Addendum
by emeraldonix
Summary: Tsunade takes up the mantle of Hokage after the Nine Tails attack, but she has a lot of changes in store for some fundamental parts of the shinobi system. Not all are happy with these changes. And what of the swelling ranks of Akatsuki, and rising crime rates in both Fire Country and abroad? There is something looming on the horizon, and Team 7 has a lot of unfortunate ties.
1. Chapter 1

Addendum

Sasuke stares at the blond and pinkette that are making faces at each other and running around a few yards away. They invited him to play tag with them during recess, and now he is standing unsure off to the side as the two friends duck and weave around each other. Even at five years old they are graceful, just like himself. They will undoubtedly move on to the academy at eight alongside the promising Uchiha.

Suddenly Naruto gives up on chasing Sakura and spins around to charge at Sasuke. The surprised child stumbles out of the way of the charge just in time and runs in the opposite direction on instinct, laughing in exhilaration. Soon he is it and he chases Sakura. Later the three of them are scolded by their teacher for missing the signal whistle to return to the classroom. They still miss it the next day. And the next.

After nearly a month the exasperated civilian teacher calls in the three children's guardians. Both of Sakura's parents and Naruto's orphanage caretaker come in. Not surprisingly Fugaku Uchiha does not make an appearance, but Mikoto is there, along with a surprisingly attentive Itachi. At thirteen he just graduated and has been training with a team and sensei for two months now. He has already applied to take the Chunin exams and has arranged for solo missions in the near future. Fugaku was frustrated by the new regulations that prevented Itachi from graduation much earlier, but the Lady Hokage forbade any exceptions to the new graduation age of thirteen. Itachi was advancing at a very rapid rate now that he has his headband, but Fugaku was still very bitter about what he perceived to be invasive restrictions.

In his day you could altogether skip the academy if you were already trained by your family at the age of eight. He had been planning to do the same with Itachi as the boy was very advanced from a young age, but the first thing that Tsunade did as Hokage was demand the end of child soldiers and order all shinobi to send their children to civilian school until the age of eight. Luckily by the time the law was enacted Itachi was already eight and of age to apply to the academy, but he still had to wait until the age of thirteen to graduate, even though he had been training from the age of four.

After a long discussion about the newly inseparable pair and their need for outside stimulation besides recess during school, Itachi volunteers to take them to the park when he's not on missions. Mebuki suggests they all start picking flowers on the weekends for the Yamanaka shop for pocket money, and the orphanage director suggests they start taking practice missions such as catching cats and painting fences, which have all officially been declassified as missions so that genin are trained only in real mission scenarios with a sensei. The Harunos invite the others over for dinner to discuss a schedule and let the kids play, and Mikoto and Itachi graciously accept while the director readily agrees to send Naruto over with a caretaker escort there and back.

"Nonsense! We can stop on our way over to bring Naruto with us. You have so many children to attend to, don't worry about it." Mikoto waves off the offer and beams at Mebuki and Kizashi who smile warmly back. Mebuki bites the inside of her mouth nervously and thinks of all of the things she and Kizashi need to speed clean when they get home, not wanting the Uchihas to judge her very average home.

Later that evening with four different courses cooking on the stove or in the oven, Kizashi runs to greet the Uchihas and Naruto before running back to keep stirring the food so it won't burn. Mebuki is upstairs washing the mud off of Sakura from her after school frolicking with Ino and an older Yamanaka cousin, which she returned late from. The girl brought home a beautiful fistfull of flowers, which Kizashi placed in a vase on the dining room table after he finished setting the table.

Sakura comes running down the stairs in a fresh yellow shirt and jumper with a red bow tied in her hair. She pulls the boys with her to the living room to show them a card trick while Itachi follows silently to observe the seemingly odd trio. Sasuke is already starting to show signs of pride at the age of five, yet he has chosen to befriend a civilian girl and the jinchuriki. He asked his brother earlier in the day if he knew about Naruto, to which Sasuke responded with a story of Naruto's parents heroically rescuing the village and sealing the beast in Naruto so he could keep protecting everyone. Itachi had never thought of it like that before, having only heard it told as a horror story, but he supposed it was true and said nothing more on the subject.

Mebuki brings tea to the breakfast table where Mikoto has sat and the two enjoy a cup of green tea while Kizashi finishes dinner and plates all of the food. When he is finished they help carry everything to the table before calling the children to eat. The three young ones dictate the conversation while the adults and Itachi comment here and there to acknowledge that they are paying attention. After dinner the families sit down in the living room to talk and listen to Kizashi and Sakura play the grand piano, the Harunos' prized possession.

The dinners become a Friday tradition, with Itachi attending when he can, and sometimes Ino joining Sakura. Over the few years Itachi is able to make it less and less as he progresses up the shinobi ladder. He quickly meets the requirements for Jonin promotion before joining the ranks of the ANBU, which has been becoming more and more elite as of late, with less demands because of the ban on assassination missions that is enacted when Itachi is fifteen. Somehow he is assigned on even more missions and is transferred to a classified team under the direct orders of the Hokage herself. For the few months before he turns sixteen he doesn't make it to any of the dinners. Mikoto doesn't miss a single one, until she, along with Sasuke is absent after nearly a year of Itachi going missing from dinners. They never even stop by the orphanage to pick up Naruto. The Harunos eat alone that night and Naruto joins the other orphans in the mess hall.

Saturday morning news reaches the civilian household from Ino before her morning sparring with Sakura. They have just begun their second year at the academy and are locked in a rivalry for top of the class with Sasuke, and are training and have been studying together everyday for over a year to beat their snooty Uchiha friend to prove to him that girls are just as good as boys. Ino has red eyes when she knocks on the Harunos' door as she tearfully explains that their friend is in the hospital psychiatric ward after he saw his clan wiped out during the coup d'etat they attempted last night. His mother was arrested even though she stayed home and did not participate. She stands accused of conspiring against the Hokage, as do all other registered or retired ninja within the Uchiha clan.

Instead of training, Ino goes home under the protection of an older cousin as there is still a declared state of emergency in act from the night before, while Sakura goes to the hospital with her parents to try to see Sasuke. The streets are being combed by shinobi and what remains of the police force, and Mebuki and Kizashi are asked to present their IDs at several checkpoints on their way to the hospital. Once they finally make it, they find Naruto already at the reception desk demanding to see Sasuke.

"Sakura-chan they won't let me see him!" Naruto whines as he points an accusing finger at the frazzled looking psychiatric nurse behind the desk.

"I am sorry but Mr. Uchiha is on a psychiatric hold for 72 hours and is not permitted guests at this time. Don't worry, he has 24/7 monitoring and will be released to his immediate family once he is released." The nurse assures Mebuki and Hizashi when they inquire about Sasuke.

"What family? They killed or arrested them all!" Naruto yells, tears in his eyes. Sakura grabs his arm and pulls him to her side where she can wrap a comforting arm around him. Ino had a cousin placed on psychiatric hold once and the blonde told her how it was because he tried to kill himself after a mission. Sasuke is probably on hold because he needs it right now.

"His brother is the one who brought him in. He will return in a few days to bring Sasuke to his apartment to live with him." The nurse explains, a sympathetic look on her face. Mebuki and Kizashi thank her for explaining when she didn't have to and take the two distressed children out of the hospital and back to their home. Mebuki calls the orphanage to reassure staff that they have Naruto and he is safe before she sits down with the two and Kizashi to play a game of partner Shoji over tea. It is a game the children learned in the academy to teach team strategy, and they have been obsessed with it ever since.

Naruto stays with the family for the rest of the weekend before returning to the orphanage Monday morning to get his school things. The state of emergency has been lifted so the academy opens as usual. All of the children are shaken up and their is an ominous silence even during sparring sessions, but the teachers go on as usual to maintain a sense of stability. Several children besides Sasuke are absent, as they also lost family members in the coup, who died defending the Hokage.

When Sasuke is finally released from the hospital, Sakura and Naruto don't know how to contact him, as they don't know Itachi's address and he's not in the phone book. In a desperate act to find their friend they decide to sneak into the Uchiha compound and his old home to look for a personal address book or anything that could be a clue as to his location. Crime scene tape surrounds the property, but no one is guarding the house so they slip in undetected. Sakura screams when they find blood stains near the entrance and runs outside to get away from gore, something she has never been exposed to before. Naruto has seen a lot of blood, including his own from fights with older orphans who blame him for their parents' death. He fights down the flutter of fear that tickles the back of his throat and runs through the halls to reach the master bedroom. Inside he digs through their things looking for clues. After a few minutes Sakura climbs through the window of the bedroom and joins him. She quickly finds Mikoto's address book in her desk and on one of the newer pages is Itachi's address neatly printed. Sakura packs the book in her bag, as well as a few other keepsakes from the matriarch, such as a hair pin with the Uchiha sigil on the end, a half empty bottle of her perfume, and a family portrait of the four of them. Her and Naruto crawl back out the window and quickly make their way across town to a brick apartment complex between the Hokage's tower and the Hokage monument. It's conveniently located for quick unseen exits from the village into the quickly expanding civilian districts up above the cliff, as well as ease of access to the Hokage herself.

Before they can even knock on the door, Itachi opens it and stares down at the two, surprised that they managed to track them down so quickly. He expected it to take at least a day before the pair worked up the courage to break into his parent's home. He opens the door wider and stands back to allow them to enter. Sasuke has been worryingly quiet since Itachi picked him up from the psychiatry unit, so hopefully his friends can get some sort of reaction out of him.

They sit on either side of his younger brother, saying nothing as they lean their heads on his shoulders. Sakura pulls out a textbook on genjutsu to start reading aloud the chapter they just completed in school so Sasuke won't fall behind while Naruto asks questions periodically about things he missed while he was spaced out. Sasuke still says nothing, but his eyes flicker to the two occasionally, or dip to look at a diagram whenever Sakura calls his attention to something. Itachi's lips twitch up at the corners for a second for the first time in days before he turns to go back to making a simple lunch for all of them. He needs to go visit their mother and her lawyer soon, so he hopes that Naruto and Sakura are alright with staying with Sasuke while he is gone.

He pulls Sakura aside when she inevitably gets up first to come help him set the table to murmur to her to keep an eye on Sasuke for a bit. He knows she is the most perceptive and empathetic of the group and will be the most likely to be able to handle any emotional response that might erupt if Sasuke snaps out of his psychosis during Itachi's absence. She'll at least have the sense to call for help if she needs it. Naruto tends to amplify Sasuke's emotions, which might not be the best if his shock wears off to be replaced with grief.

The next few weeks go by and Mikoto's trial date comes and goes. She is sentenced to house arrest for five years, and Sasuke is removed from her custody and placed in Itachi's. The elder Uchiha brother is rarely home, but because he was in no way involved with the coup and has proven his unquestioning loyalty to Konoha, he is the only family the elders will allow Tsunade to place him with. Sasuke lives with him for nearly a year before Itachi defects from the village that thought him so loyal. The Harunos' offer to adopt Sasuke and Naruto, but Sasuke refuses and moves into the orphanage, his pride and anger preventing him from abandoning the Uchiha name, even in principle. Naruto decides to stay with him. They stop coming over on Sundays for dinner. Sasuke spends all of his time outside of the academy training, determined to become a hunter nin and kill his brother. He thinks it will exonerate the family name, although deep down he knows as well as everyone else it will carry its shame for generations to come. Uchihas are banned from police service or joining the Hokage's personal guard. Most choose to join the chakra tech departments where they can work alone and unbothered by distrusting stares. A few like Sasuke's cousin Shisui are still in active shinobi service working outside of the village.

By the time the pair reach graduation, Sakura has been distant from the boys for nearly three years. Her once good natured rivalry with Sasuke for top of class became a bitter point of resentment for the Uchiha now full of wounded pride, resentment for both his family and village, and too little self preservation for someone so young about to enter a dangerous profession. He pushes himself too far several times a week and is a frequent visitor at the hospital for chakra depletion. Sakura, not knowing how to reconcile with her suffering friend, allowed him to push her away with the knowledge that Naruto would still be able to be there for him. The blond sticks loyaly by the Uchiha's side, through all of his mean outbursts and over the top sparring sessions. Under all of the hurt he is still Sasuke, his best friend, and Naruto is often the one thing keeping Sasuke from deserting like his brother.

That is why Tsunade makes sure the two are assigned together when the academy instructors make the genin teams. They weren't planning on placing the two on the same team since they were the top two in the taijutsu category at graduation and would be better suited to other teammates, so to balance them out the teachers decide to assign Sakura to their team as well, despite their knowledge of Sasuke's resentment. Her promising potential in genjutsu and already basic understanding of medical ninjutsu from a two year apprenticeship at the hospital will be perfect for the reckless pair. With her above average speed and skill in tactics, she will be able to keep up with the two and maybe even bring a sense of control to the wildness of the boys.

When Kakashi was told he would be receiving his first genin team, he knew it was because his late sensei's child was finally of age to become a genin. He had put in the request to be Naruto's sensei years ago, having decided he wanted to be a part of the boy's life after years of mandatory therapy. He happily leaves the Hokage's personal guard, worried that he was being groomed for Hokage, a position he hopes he never is forced into. Perhaps he will like being a sensei, and he can become a full time babysitter to avoid the overwhelming duty that he fears looms on the horizon.

His hope of liking his new duties flies out the window the minute he steps in the empty classroom to find Sasuke Uchiha and some pink haired girl arguing while Naruto attempts in vein to end the verbal sparring. It seems that the Uchiha has insulted Sakura for being scrawny and unfit for her headband (which for her age, Kakashi admits, is a little true), which has obviously set off the pinkette's temper, her fists tightly clenched. The way she is eyeing the Uchiha, Kakashi worries she might throw a punch and escalate the situation. It looks like Sasuke wants her to do it.

Kakashi clears his throat and steps fully into the room. The three look up and Naruto seems to noticeably relax while Sasuke and Sakura turn their anger on Kakashi for being late. "We have been here for nearly an hour!" Sakura yells, gesturing to the two boys. "And I need to talk to the Hokage, because I can not possibly be on a team with a sexist pig!" Sakura turns her nose up at Sasuke who rolls his eyes and crosses his arms. "It's not sexist if it's true." he grumbles, and Sakura whirls with her fist raised to strike him. Kakashi catches her arm before she can. He is surprised by the strength in her toothpick arm and notes that for the future.

"Why don't we go up on the roof where there's a nice breeze to cool you two off, and then we can begin introductions." Kakashi suggests, doing his best to look stern with only one eye visible. He's been told the look is intimidating, which he hopes holds true for his genin. He has heard from the orphanage director that Naruto can be rowdy, and from his brief meeting with the other two they may be even worse. Why has he been looking forward to being a sensei, exactly?

After a brief introduction where Sasuke manages to make more rude comments in an attempt to rile Sakura, the pinkette declares that her goal is to always be stronger than Sasuke so she can rub it in his sexit face, and Naruto pulls at Kakashi's heartstrings with his dream to be just like his dad and become Hokage, Kakashi sends the three home with instructions to get a good night's rest and skip breakfast in the morning before meeting him at dawn at training ground three. He plans to show up around noon, but they don't need to know that. He wants to make the conditions for their test tomorrow as realistic as possible, to push them to their breaking point to see if there is any chance they will ever be able to work as a team. He fears the animosity between Sakura and Sasuke has had too long to fester without intervention, and that team dynamics will never be able to form, which will put everyone's lives at risk on any mission. If the two don't work together in any way during the exercise he has planned, then he will disband the team and send them back to the academy to be placed on different teams next year. He will not risk Naruto's life.

The next day Kakashi shows up right when the late summer heat reaches its peak. The three are already covered in a light sheen of sweat when he appears suddenly in front of them, and all three are a mix of annoyance and outright anger for his tardiness.

"I was visiting my dead team's graves." Kakashi explains when Sakura accuses him of being lazy. Her cheeks blaze with shame as she glances at Sasuke before averting her eyes and murmuring an apology for being rude. Sasuke continues to glare but says nothing and turns his back to walk away to an appropriate sparring distance. Naruto scratches the back of his head awkwardly and looks to Kakashi for instructions, unsure of how to handle the awkward situation. When Kakashi explains the bell test the blond launches into the drill before Kakashi can even say go, anxious to cut through the thick tension in the training ground. It works and Kakashi is smiling when he grabs the boy by the ankle and holds him upside down.

"I didn't even say start." He drones wryly, staring down at the blond's electric blue gaze that is sparking with energy, just like his mother's. When he throws a kick with his free leg Kakashi flings him away and toward Sakura, who surprisingly catches her teammate instead of dodging. She rights his feet on the ground and takes up a fighting stance, waiting obediently for Kakashi's command. Sasuke stands a few yards away from the two also ready to fight, and an idea forms in Kakashi's mind.

"Begin." he says right before disappearing to flicker behind the Uchiha. His punch is dodged and he quickly moves out of Kakashi's reach just in time for a flying kick from Naruto that forces the experienced shinobi to raise his arms to deflect. He notices Sakura in the background forming hand seals for a genjutsu to confuse his senses into seeing her movements as delayed, which he quickly releases with a hand sign behind his back. He pretends to be caught in her trap so when she flings a kunai she is surprised when he not only catches it, but flings it back at her. Sasuke deflects the projectile with a thrown shuriken and smirks at the pinkette. "You think a kunai is going to take down a jonin?" He scorns before dodging another kunai just in time thrown by Kakashi. It knicks his arm just enough for a drop of blood to run down and stain his pristine white arm guard. He scowls at Kakashi while Sakura snickers.

"Looks like it works just fine on you, though." Sakura retaliates, moving quickly to catch another kunai thrown in Sasuke's direction and whip it back at Kakashi. She locks eyes with Kakashi and he can see the determination alight in her stunning green eyes. Despite her mocking words, she still moved to defend Sasuke, as did he for her. Their actions speak for themselves, so Kakashi decides to keep pushing them, hoping they will grow tired enough to stop barbing each other.

"Will you two stop it?! We need to work together if we want to even stand a chance at getting those bells!" Naruto yells in exasperation.

"There's only two bells, baka, why should we work with Sakura?"

"Because there needs to be three on a team you dunce, he can't actually send just one of us back." Sakura retorts to the Uchiha.

Sasuke opens his mouth to reply snarkily, but is interrupted by Kakashi shadow stepping behind him again and placing a kunai lightly against his neck. "And I've already taken one of you captive because you are distracting each other." His voice comes out more threateningly than is has in a long time, and he can see the fear on Naruto's face and the shock and horror on Sakura's. He sees a light green chakra swirl around her fingertips and realizes she has summoned medical chakra to her hands in case he actually slits Sasuke's throat so she can attempt to save him. He smiles internally at the instinctual show of concern. So his sources were right about the tight bond the two used to have. He releases Sasuke and pushes him into the pinkette, who rights him as she did Naruto moments ago.

"Now start again. I have all day." Kakashi smiles at the three genin who glance at each other after Naruto's stomach audibly grumbles in hunger.

Kakashi pushes the trio ruthlessly for the next few weeks, increasing his strength, speed, and aggression as they adapt to his style as well as each other's. Tsunade has personally called him to her office to find out why he hasn't accepted any missions yet for his new team, and he explained that he wants to squash any animosity between Sakura and Sasuke before he does so. Tsunade grudgingly accepts, but tells him to hurry up as there has been an influx of escort missions, as there has been an increased volume of rogue ninja raids and attempted assassinations of officials. The whole of fire country is more on edge, and her ANBU scouts report that the same is happening in the other nations as well. Akatsuki is also continuing to acquire high profile rogues, which has kept Jiraiya, her closest advisor, busy and away from her side for months. Her unease is growing, which is reducing her patience. Kakashi caves to her continued pressure that he take a mission for his team earlier than he would have liked, as Sakura and Sasuke only speak to communicate battle tactics. Sasuke has stopped insulting her and Sakura has stopped lashing out in response, but the glares and stiff silences remain. Naruto however, is still able to get the Uchiha to talk and has begun to grow close with Sakura once again. Hopefully their ability to work together in a battle setting and Naruto's likability will be enough for a simple escort mission to the land of waves. It's a country away from everything, and their charge is only a bridge builder, a construction worker of little significance and with no wealth to his name to draw thieves.

When Zabuza, the demon of the Hidden Mist Village attacks on their fourth day of travel, Kakashi's hope for a successful mission is dashed. He insists that they return home, but between his genin's insistence, the fact that the leaf village is now involved in an international incident, and the threat of complete economic collapse of a nation rich in resources, Kakashi decides against his better judgement to send the three genin home alone while he completes the mission. He can handle Zabuza on his own, and the three of them are insignificant to the monster.

He shouldn't be so surprised when the three show up on the bridge in the middle of his intense fight with Zabuza and his deadly devotee, Haku. Kakashi was suffering from chakra exhaustion from overuse of the sharingan and a sliced hamstring courtesy of Zabuza's butcher blade when the three saved him from certain death. Sasuke and Naruto set off a series of explosions and smoke bombs to create a distraction while Sakura quickly heals Kakashi's hamstring before looking to him for orders. Sasuke grabs the bridge builder and moves him away to a safer location while Naruto does the same with his grandson, who is cowering in fear. Kakashi is in no position to scold them for insubordination as they had just saved his life, along with countless others. He would remember to later regardless; he couldn't let them make a habit of disobeying him and charging into situations above their heads. He orders the three of them to defend Tazuna while he fights, but Sakura checked his chakra reserves when she healed him and immediately exposes him to the boys as weakened. Before he can retort that he still has more chakra left than she does even at full strength, she was barking orders at Sasuke and Naruto to engage Haku and pull him away from Zabuza, which to Kakashi's disbelief they both do without hesitation, not even a glare from Sasuke at being bossed around by Sakura.

The pinkette slides into a fighting stance next to Kakashi with a look of determination on her face, the only sign of fear is the the slight trembling in her hand as it is raised in front of her, ready to attack or defend. "Will genjutsu work on him, sensei?" She asks quietly, her eyes darting around to make sure no one else is around to sneak up on her or make a break for Tazuna behind them. Kakashi stands up and tests his weight on his newly healed leg and is surprised to find it completely repaired. He's used to patch jobs in the field that always require painful fixes later on. Sakura, a green genin who has never seen real battle, just healed his wound better than most ANBU medics would all while formulating the best plan for this particular scenario and assessing her Jonin opponent. And Kakashi had just been sitting on his ass watching her.

"Yes, although he is an elite Jonin, so do not bet on them always working. Nothing you learned at the academy will work, so get more creative. And no matter what, do not attack head on. Only attack his weak spots and provide support while I lead the offense."

Sakura nods firmly and rotates left around Zabuza when Kakashi charges straight forward. She throws kunai and messes with his senses from a distance while Kakashi engages in taijutsu, and Zabuza is quickly forced to draw back and use up a large chunk of chakra to cast his hidden mist jutsu. Kakashi was waiting for this moment, and quickly summons his ninken to track Zabuza. He hears Sakura's scream just as his dogs lunge through the fog in front of him and he launches forward to tackle Zabuza away from Sakura, who barely ducked under his blade and has fallen to her hands and knees after losing her balance from the surprise attack. He is thrown by his enemy easily and before Kakashi can recover or before his ninken can close in for the kill, Zabuza has a foot planted in the small of Sakura's back and a kunai poised at the base of her neck. She is looking through the mess of her hair with wide fearful eyes at Kakashi, her mouth wide as she pants in fear. Tears well in her eyes and he can see her shaking from meters away in fear.

"Surrender right now, or the brat is dead, Kakashi." Zabuza scrapes his kunai along the back of Sakura's neck to draw blood and she whimpers.

"Don't kill me. I'm just a little girl. Please." Sakura pleads with Zabuza as her voice cracks with a sob.

Kakashi surges forward half a second later and just as Zabuza shoves his kuani through Sakura's neck Kakashi shoves his chidori through his chest. The genjutsu clone of Sakura dissipates as Zabuza's knee hits the ground. He coughs up blood and glares bitterly at the pinkette, who has materialized a few feet away, placing herself between Zabuza and Tazuna. Her eyes are not focused on her would be killer though, instead distracted by the hot plume of raw energy further down the bridge cutting through the thick fog.

"What are you waiting for Hatake? Fucking finish it!" Zabuza growls, ignoring the hand still inside his chest. I was fooled by a fucking child. Now end my life before I take yours."

Kakashi wrenches his fist from Zabuza's chest and pulls out a kunai. "Sakura go check on Naruto and Sasuke. I don't like that chakra." He also doesn't want her to see what comes next, but he doesn't say that. As soon as she is out of sight, Kakashi slashes for Zabuza's throat. His sharingan is deactivated, so he doesn't realize until it's too late that his slash cuts deep across another's throat instead. The already cracked mask falls from Haku's face as he falls backwards over Zabuza's hunched form, blood flowing from his carotid artery.

Sakura quickly recognizes that Sasuke's heart was momentarily stopped by a well placed needle and removes that before healing the worst of his injuries. Naruto is also unconscious nearby and she checks on him only to discover that his wounds are quickly closing, visible to the naked eye. She tucks that information away for later before returning to the Uchiha who is beginning to regain consciousness. She notices his eyes are red and quietly tells him he has activated his Sharingan before using her chakra to switch it off for him so his eyes can relax and he can conserve his chakra. She is completely drained of chakra, so what gashes she hasn't yet heeled she cleans and bandages up. Sasuke, after Sakura has assured him Naruto is alive and perfectly fine, closes his eyes and gives in to his chakra exhaustion. Sakura is sitting between her unconscious teammates when Kakashi emerges from the fading fog, bloody and ragged looking, but otherwise unscathed.

A week passes while Kakashi and Sasuke sleep away their chakra exhaustion and Naruto and Sakura assist in the repairs to the bridge the boys caused with their explosion distraction. Kakashi watches the bridge builder's grandson, Inari, quickly go from the brat he once was before when Kakashi met him alone to a determined worker like his grandfather after a heart to heart Naruto has one night with him outside of Kakashi's door. The boy worships Naruto, and the blond manages to worm his way into the hearts of the whole family while he helps complete the bridge. When Tazuna names it the Great Naruto Bridge, Kakashi is glad his mask hides his proud grin from his sensei's kin, for he would be very embarrassed to be seen being so mushy. He is annoyed when he notices Sakura grinning mischievously at him, like she's on to him. Sasuke mocks the gloating Uzumaki the whole way back to Konoha, but he does so with a smirk that is closer to a smile. Kakashi notices the lack of animosity between him and Sakura as well, with him allowing the pinkette to redress his wounds without resistance and even murmuring his thanks each time.

When they return to Konoha, Tsunade is furious with him for not returning with his students immediately upon realizing it was above a C ranked mission, but when a generous trade deal arrivees from the Land of Waves days later she lays off the scoldings and threats and allows Team 7 to take missions once again, although she personally vets them all before allowing Kakashi to accept anything. As if it was his fault Tazuna lied to get a cheaper price.

As Kakashi becomes more familiar with his team and they continue to become a well oiled machine, he begins to specialize their training to fit their strengths and weaknesses. Sakura naturally takes command during spars, so he designs exercises to test her tactic improvisation. He also teaches her genjutsu, which she begins to practice on Sasuke, so he can train his Sharingan at the same time. The two will often stay late after training to finish up whatever they are working on. He discovers Sasuke has a lightning affinity and has him work on his own signature technique, the chidori, when they are working individually. In order to use the attack the Uchiha needs to train his speed while building his chakra pool. He has him chase Naruto and his shadow clones for speed training, while the blond practices setting seal traps to keep the Uchiha on his toes. Naruto has his mother's scrolls on Uzumaki techniques, and Kakashi has been helping him decipher the notes with what he learned about seals from Minato. Sunday dinners at the Harunos have begun once again, and now Kakashi is invited.

After months of training and the steady grind of C rank escorts, stolen package retrievals, and even a little dabbling in border patrol, Kakashi decides it's time. "I would like to nominate Team 7 for the chunin exams."


	2. Chapter 2: Sakura

Sakura finishes her overnight double shift at the hospital just in time to run home and eat a quick breakfast and change into sparring clothes. She sneaks in through her window so her parents won't realize she was gone all night and peels off her white uniform dotted with fresh blood stains before pulling on spandex shorts and a loose fitting cotton shirt. Her chakra reserves are running a little low from the unusually busy graveyard shift, so she swallows a chakra supplementary pill before grabbing the rest of her things and running down the stairs. She wants nothing more than to sleep away the morning before her next shift starts at dusk, but with the chunin exams starting in less than a month, she needs to keep up on her physical training as well as her shifts at the hospital. She hasn't decided whether or not she wants to take the medical shinobi route with her career upon promotion to chunin, so she's been putting in the work for both that profession as well as field shinobi training.

Breakfast is waiting for her and she scarfs down as much as she can in five minutes before jogging over to training ground three. Sasuke gives her a strange look as she flops in the grass gracelessly and groans in ecstasy as her body finally gets a moment's rest. He goes back to target practice wordlessly, knocking out all of Naruto's clones with kunai in seconds. The blond summons another dozen and one of them goes to sit next to Sakura, wordlessly pulling her head into his lap. She hums in appreciation of the gesture before promptly passing out.

Kakashi arrives an hour later, and Naruto and Sasuke have started sparring. Sakura is still sound asleep, but when Kakashi approaches her her eyes fly open and go directly to his face. Her tensed muscles relax when she sees his casual posture and his hands in his pockets. Yesterday she also she fell asleep while waiting for him, and he woke her up with a water jutsu that sent her splashing into the pond. He thought she was just growing complacent with her training, but now that he has caught her asleep again, he suspects there might be something more to it. Sakura isn't normally one to slack off.

"Sorry Sensei, I only meant to rest my eyes for a few minutes." She says as she quickly gets to her feet. He notices the dark circles under her bloodshot eyes and sighs before ruffling her hair. "Everything alright Sakura? You look… tired."

She glares at Kakashi and after a quick hand sign she has cast a genjutsu over her features. "Nope. Everything's fine." She grits out before stalking toward her sparring teammates. Without announcing that she has even joined in, she grabs Naruto by the scruff of the jacket and flips him over her head and onto his stomach on the ground. She places her heel between his shoulder blades to hold him in place and glares across the clearing at Kakashi. "See?"

Kakashi decides to not comment on her snapiness in fear of souring her mood further, and instead nods and beckons for her to follow him. "You boys keep sparring. I have a new jutsu to teach Sakura." He calls to his other students. He sees Sasuke help Naruto to his feet out of the corner of his eye and watches them both skirt around their female teammate as she stomps after her sensei. As soon as she's almost to his side he jumps up into the trees and beckons for her to follow. She ignores the shaking in her muscles as they scream for rest and follows closely behind.

After nearly twenty minutes of traveling away from the village, Sakura starts to feel tremors in the ground making their way up the trees and into the soles of her feet. She glances nervously at Kakashi, who seems unperturbed by the disturbances. "Is this a mission, sensei?" Her voice wavers uncertainly and Kakashi glances down at his student. She has a worried and frustrated expression on her face and is rummaging in her medical supplies pouch. He has noticed she's been taking supplemental chakra pills during training breaks for the past two weeks when she thinks he isn't looking.

"No it isn't. Don't worry, you won't need any chakra for this exercise." As if on queue, the ground rumbles again,the impact much closer than it was before. Kakashi-sensei jumps down into a freshly made clearing in the forest and Sakura quickly follows. She comes face to face with the Hokage herself.

"What do you want Kakashi?" She snaps, glaring at the silver haired man who scratches the back of his head and smiles sheepishly, deceptively innocent in manner.

"I believe my student is at a crossroads that I am not equipped to help her with, so I thought she could speak with you." Kakashi gestures to a bewildered Sakura. The pinkete fights the urge to step behind her sensei as the Hokage's annoyed glare turns on her. After a few seconds of observation the blonde woman snorts and snaps her fingers. Sakura feels the genjutsu masking her physical signs of exhaustion dissolve and stares in bewilderment at the Hokage.

"Only thirteen and you already look like you need to be committed to the hospital for overwork. How many missions have you been taking your genin on, Kakashi?"

"Mah, Hokage-sama. You wound me. I have been limiting their practices and missions to an acceptable amount. I believe you and Sakura-hime may have some things to discuss, though. I'll drop by your office later for more details on that classified mission you requested me for. I'll miss my team's performance in the first and second round of the chunin exams because of it, so I had better go make sure the boys are prepared. Chow." He disappears in a cloud of smoke.

Tsunade massages her temples in annoyance, but makes no move to chase down the Jonin who just dared to dump his genin on her during her private training session. She supposes she does owe him. After all, he has grown rather close to his genin team over the past few months, and he won't be able to observe their progress because of the mission she has tasked him with. Recent intel from Jiraiya's network of spies indicates that Orochimaru plans to send multiple teams to participate in the exam. While he is a missing nin and would be arrested, or even killed on sight, she has no doubt he will still find a way into the village, which is why she has tasked Kakashi with tracking him down when he inevitably does so. She doesn't need her ex-teammate sneaking around unmonitored in the shadows during such a high profile event. If this event goes off without a hitch, mission requests will hopefully come pouring in. With her decision to stop taking assassination and other morally corrupt missions, there has been a noticeable decline in requests for other missions. She needs to prove to potential clients that her shinobi are still more than capable of fulfilling their requests.

"What is your name?" Tsunade asks as she takes up a sparring stance. The pinkette looks bewildered at the unspoken invitation but quickly drops into a defensive stance when Tsunade rushes forward. She wisely dodges the punch instead of trying to catch the older woman's fist.

"Sakura Haruno." She manages to get out before leaping back to dodge a kick to the abdomen. Despite her haggard appearance, the girl's eyes are still alert and her movements are precise and quick. Deciding to test her endurance, Tsunade continues launching attack after attack, saying nothing as they fall into a rhythm.

After her initial disbelief that the Hokage is sparring with her, Sakura focuses on the battle and looks for opportunities to get her own attacks in. Unfortunately for her there are none, and within fifteen minutes her fatigue is starting to overpower the sheer force of her mental will to keep going. This is an opportunity that every genin only dreams of, and here she is, barely able to keep her feet beneath her and her eyes open. The first blow the Hokage lands sends her flying and Sakura lays on the ground, trying to breathe with the wind knocked out of her. When the feeling doesn't go away she realizes a rib or two is probably broken and raises a palm glowing with green medical chakra to her sternum. One of her lungs is punctured and she grunts in frustration when she realizes she definitely doesn't have enough chakra to heal that. She fixes the ribs and does what she can for her lung before getting up slowly.

Tsunade had watched closely the whole time, silently bewildered by the girl's proficient use of medical chakra. By her movements she obviously didn't fix everything, but the fact that the genin can stand when Tsunade knows she broke almost half of her ribs is proof that she did a good enough job. After a few moments of contemplating the pinkette starring ashamedly at her feet, Tsunade approaches and reaches out to more closely examine the girl's work. The ribs are perfectly healed, and the lung has been partially repaired. In a pinch it would be enough to have her back on her feet and fighting. That is, if her chakra wasn't completely drained from just the one healing.

"Either your reserves are shit, or you need to learn how to take better care of your body." Tsunade comments, quickly healing the rest of the damage before taking a step back to look over the girl. She's very scrawny, but what little meat is on her bones is all hard muscle. Given her age and height, if she increased her caloric intake just a bit she would likely have a major growth spurt within the next few months.

Sakura grimaces at the double edged insult, and nods. "Definitely both, Hokage-sama." She admits sheepishly.

Tsunade hums in acknowledgement. "Well, luckily for you both are fixable problems. I'll make sure Shizune drops you from your hospital shifts so you can focus on your physical training." Before Sakura can protest Tsunade holds up a hand for silence. "You obviously haven't decided on a career track yet, and from the looks of you have been pursuing both a medical and field path. Until you are promoted to chunin I want you to focus on actually getting promoted. There's no point in wasting your talents by burning yourself out before you even hit puberty." Sakura flushes at the reprimand and looks down at her body, suddenly self conscious. She is rather skinny, but she always has been. But now she's really skinny. Sickly looking, in fact. She's sure that in combination with her unwashed hair, the shuffle in her fatigued gait, and the dark circles under her eyes that she probably looks ill. She kind of feels like she could pass out at any moment.

After a few critiques to Sakura's form and a very brief demonstration of her strong fist technique, Tsunade realizes that too much time has slipped by and heads back to the mountains of paperwork awaiting her in her office. She stops by the hospital to check the shift schedule, and just as she suspected the girl has been working most of the overnight shifts for the better part of a month. It's a wonder she was able to spar at all, let alone heal herself after. Tsunade smirks to herself, feeling her worry over the chunin exams lessen, just a little. At the very least, Konoha will have a good crop of genin to display to the wealthy attendees of the third round. She has no doubt the scrawny pinkette will ruin a lot of betting pools.


	3. Chapter 3: Sasuke

A/N: Sorry for the long wait… I have no excuse. I'll continue to update as the mood strikes me. Hopefully after graduation that will be much more often. Here is my best attempt at getting into the mind of a teenage Sasuke… yikes.

Chapter 3

Sasuke stops the kick aimed at his head, but is forced to release her calf when Sakura swings around with her fist. After her private training session with Kakashi a month ago, her punches have been a lot more painful than usual. There are many craters around the clearing from where she has left a dent, sometimes with himself or Naruto at the center of the wreckage. Her arms look less like sticks now too, and she's still just a hair taller than Naruto. She recently started wearing her hair in a low ponytail to keep it out of the way, and she has tied a small senbon to the fabric binding it. On missions she coats it in a poison she claims she learned how to make from reverse engineering one from the hospital, and whenever an enemy tries to use her hair against her, they end up immobilized and at her mercy.

Naruto is off with Kakashi today, having recently discovered he has an air affinity. They are trying to find an instructor for the blond, so he will have some techniques to work on while Kakashi is unavailable. Sasuke has been honing the chidori and working with Sakura on different battle tactics, and the pinkette has been busy devouring food and genjutsu scrolls. She's already good enough that she's been inventing her own, but she still needs others notes to pull bits and pieces from. She's gotten rather creative with some of her more horrifying illusions. Sasuke would never admit it, but if he didn't have the Sharingan, he would be nervous to spar against her. She could probably incapacitate someone far above her rank. In fact, he has seen it happen. If it weren't for her brilliant tactical abilities, strength, and speed, he would think her a fine candidate for T&I.

After exchanging a few more blows, Sasuke manages to pin her and she yields. They have been sparring aimlessly for hours, and even Sasuke is starting to tire. Sakura's greatest weakness is her endurance, but every day it gets better. If he actually cared, he would worry for whoever has to face her in the chunin exams. It could very well be himself at some point if they both advance far enough. He's confident he could beat her, as long as he stayed away from her fists. But most won't know what a punch the pubescent girl is packing.

After offering her a hand, Sasuke easily pulls the wispy girl to her feet. She dusts off her shorts and wipes the sweat from her brow before clasping his forearm in thanks. He doesn't know exactly when it happened, but he and Sakura have fallen back into their friendship from childhood. She teases him just as easily as she teases Naruto, and she has once again entered his small circle of people he would give his life for. He's not actually sure she ever left it.

"I'm going to grab a drink of water and do some yoga. Care to join?" She asks, walking to their packs. Sasuke follows and nods when she glances over her shoulder. He thought it was all bullshit at first, but after his first session with the pinkette he discovered yoga was indeed an excellent wind down after practice. His muscles thank him for it, and the tranquility it leaves him with allows for a blissful break from his normally relentless inner dialogue.

After Sakura leads them through a dozen or two stretches, they lay in the shade side by side, staring up at the sunlight peeking through the leaves. "Do you ever feel like you're making the wrong decision?" Sakura asks, breaking the peaceful silence.

Sasuke closes his eyes, contemplating her question. "No." He says after a moment. "Otherwise I wouldn't make it."

Sakura snorts softly. "I forgot who I was talking to for a minute." She reaches out and catches a leaf fluttering down. The silence continues.

His curiosity gets the best of him and he glares at her out of the corner of his eye. Her eyes are closed but she's smiling. She knows he can't resist. "What decision do you think you have to make?"

"Whether or not I should be a medical ninja. Assuming we get promoted of course. I guess I should stop getting so far ahead of myself." But her tone isn't humble and they both know team 7 is at the top of the Konoha pool of genin.

"That would be quite possibly the dumbest decision I've ever heard of, and my family attempted a coup d'etat." He replies, watching the shock on her face at what he just said. He never talks about his family.

"What do you mean?" She is flustered and sits up now, staring down at him intently, as if he holds all the answers.

"Well to start, you'd be taken out of the field. You'd spend the rest of your career inside of the hospital, and with Tsunade as the head of the hospital you'd likely end up stuck doing most of the paperwork as well. You'd be wasting too many other skills if you limit yourself to being a medical ninja."

Sakura's eyes are watery and Sasuke thinks he's said something too harsh until she hugs him fiercely, slouching over his torso. He feels her tears getting his shirt wet and he rolls his eyes in exasperation. "Are you on your period or something? I swear to kami-"

"Shut up you idiot. Don't ruin this." She grumbles into his neck before sitting up and wiping her tears, her smile contradicting her red eyes. "It's just you're the first person to ever see value in anything else I can do besides healing. Everyone else just always assumes that's my plan."

"That's not true." Sasuke replies, wiping the wetness from his neck and drying his hand in the grass. "Naruto would throttle you if he knew you were even considering leaving the team. He thinks we'll be together forever." They both roll their eyes at Naruto's naivety (but they both hope so too).

"Speak of the devil." Sakura replies, and just before Naruto can land with his elbow in Sasuke's gut, the Uchiha rolls out of the way and onto his feet. He makes eye contact with Sakura to thank her for the heads up before he's pulled into a wrestling spar with the blond.

Sasuke sits quietly, listening to Sakura and Naruto talk to his mother about their training while he stares at a portrait of his family over her shoulder. His father is dead, and his brother is a coward and a traitor. Itachi wasn't there when his family needed him most, and now he has left Sasuke alone with the wreckage. Every single day Sasuke is reminded by the glares from the villagers and his own inadequacies while training that he is just as worthless. This is normally a thought process he tries to avoid during the day when he's around his team, but sitting here with his mother in their home turned prison, he can hardly breathe he is so furious.

"Sasuke picked up a new technique on our last patrol." Sakura is telling Mikoto, and Sasuke snaps out of his own thoughts at the mention of his name. "We saw a few samurai sparring, and when they offered us all a chance to try out their weapons, Sasuke won the spar on his first try, with no chakra. Kakashi-sensei ordered him a katana to start training with, so hopefully it's ready before we get to the fighting portion of the exams." Sakura glances at Sasuke to see him glaring at her, but she knows he isn't actually angry. He's just embarrassed because now his mother is beaming at him with pride, something that he's not very used to anymore. Animosity and fear are his new normal. The only positive reinforcement he receives these days comes from his team.

"Well that's wonderful Sasuke-kun. I never quite mastered the blade, but your grandmother was quite famous in her day for her swordsmanship. Next time you visit I'll have some of her scrolls for you." She smiles warmly at her youngest son, hiding her hurt when he barely grunts in response and doesn't meet her eyes. She doesn't press him, and turns to Naruto with a kind smile when he starts rambling to fill the silence. It's Sakura's turn to glare at Sasuke for being a moody brat, but he doesn't acknowledge her, even when she kicks him under the table.

The four eat dinner together and help Mikoto with the dishes before her ANBU guard informs them that visiting hours are over and they must leave the compound. Mikoto hugs all three of the teens, holding onto her son for an extra second before kissing his forehead lightly. "Good luck, dear. I know you will make us proud."

Sasuke flinches when she says _us_ , but bites his tongue to hold in his retort. Besides, he is in a way still trying to please his family; live up to their expectations, even though many of them no longer live. Passing the chunin exams is just the first step towards redemption. He yearns to just be dead and to end his own misery, but he can't rest until he knows his family's honor is restored. Killing Itachi is just the first of many reparations. If the village will ever again trust those of the Uchiha blood, they will need to make themselves indispensable. With most of the elite fighters dead from the coup, it's up to Sasuke alone to do this.

When the trio reach the crossroads where their paths diverge, Naruto gives Sakura a giant hug before slinging an arm around Sasuke's shoulders to steer him towards the orphanage. They're almost of an age where they'll be permitted to move out into an apartment of their own, and Naruto has already started looking at different places. Sasuke refuses to waste his time playing house, but he knows Sakura has been helping the blond so at least someone with good taste is keeping him in check.

"You know, you could literally just belch and your mother would be delighted. You should visit her more often, and on your own sometimes too. Mikoto is the closest thing I've had to a mother, but she's yours." Naruto says after a few moments of silence. Sasuke digs his elbow into the blond's ribs to put some space between them, but there is no effort in the blow and Naruto just tightens his grip in his shirt. He knows Naruto is right. He loves his mother, and he knows that it hurts her that he visits so rarely. He knows Naruto and even Sakura visit with her more often than he does, but it brings up too much of his past all at once every time he looks into her lonely eyes. Listening to her talk about his traitorous father and brother almost activates his Sharingan and he swears he can smell the ozone of the crackling chidori that flows through his veins. She's the only one that still talks about all of the damage that has been done, as if it doesn't already haunt him every single waking moment of his miserable life.

"We should pick up food on the way home. We missed dinner." Is all Sasuke says, ignoring the blond's scowl at being ignored. "And I won't let you eat ramen the night before the exams. The last thing we need is your brain shriveling up from too much sodium."

"Pretty sure that's not how it works, teme." Naruto retorts, but he doesn't protest when Sasuke stops in front of a food vendor to read their menu. He orders two orders of tofu spring rolls and a large miso soup and waits impatiently as Naruto chats amicably with the kindly middle aged woman as she prepares their food. Sasuke swats Naruto's hands away when he reaches for his stupid frog wallet and steps in front of him to pay with his own money before grabbing the bag of takeout and walking in the direction of home. Naruto falls into step next to him with his arms behind his head, smiling as if he hasn't a care in the world. Try as he might, Sasuke is incapable of staying in a bad mood whenever the sunshine blond is around, and he finds his pace relaxing and his spine losing its rigidity.

After eating at one of the outdoor tables at the orphanage, they throw away their trash and go inside. Several of the younger kids stop Naruto to ask him about his day and update him on the goings on, and Sasuke slides through the crowd easily, determined to beat the blond to the shower.

They had gone straight to his mother's after their last training session before the exams, and he can only hope that his mother's sense of smell is not too keen. He takes his time, grateful for the facility's large water heater and thinks he might fall asleep standing up when the bathroom door is thrown open. Before he can even process that Naruto has once again invaded his personal space, the shower curtain is pushed aside and the blond's tan hand is reaching out. He grabs Sasuke's slick shoulder before pushing the startled Uchiha out of the way and grabbing his razor on the ledge next to him. "What the fuck dobe?" He manages to get out, his ears and cheeks burning a bright red.

"You were taking forever, and I need to shave! I normally do that in the shower, but I didn't think you would appreciate me joining you." Sasuke can see Naruto's cheeky grin in the mirror through the crack in the curtain. The blond has smeared the steam off at face level and Sasuke rolls his eyes, taking a deep breath. "You can clean the streaks off the mirror in the morning." He grumbles, closing the shower curtain the rest of the way and leaning back against the wall. In truth, he had been ready to get out, but now he has to wait for his idiot of a best friend to leave the room. He used to think nothing of Naruto's invasions of privacy, but lately it has been leaving him very uncomfortable and jittery. He turns the temperature of the water down to cool the inferno in his cheeks, but soon he is shivering and his senses are even more heightened. With an annoyed sigh he shuts off the water and reaches out for his towel, only to find it missing from his hook.

"Naruto where the fuck is my towel?" He growls, sliding the curtain open slightly to glare at the blond. He rolls his eyes when he sees that Naruto is using it to dry his face, but his catty words catch in his throat when he notices his state of undress. Before he notices his staring, Sasuke snatches the towel back, wraps it around his waist, and storms from the bathroom without bothering to dry off. Only when he hears the shower turn back on does he quickly pat himself dry and put on a clean pair of pajamas. Naruto mocks him for always wearing the silken shirt and trousers, but he sleeps in obnoxiously patterned boxers and a childish nightcap, so Sasuke pays him no mind.

The Uchiha is sitting at the foot of his bed sharpening both of their tools for whatever awaits them the next day when Naruto exits the bathroom. He stretches like a cat and cracks his back before lazing his way over to their shared closet, where he takes a wadded (but clean) pair of underwear from a drawer. Sasuke lets out an annoyed huff when he realizes they are a pair of his own sensible boxer briefs, but he says nothing and hurriedly averts his eyes when the blond drops his towel. He somehow resists the urge to peek, and only looks up when Naruto sprawls across Sasuke's mattress, his arm thrown over his eyes.

"Do you think Sakura's right about the first part of the exam being written?" Sasuke can hear the worry in the blond's voice. He finishes up polishing the last kunai before returning it to its respective pouch. He stands to go put both away for the morning.

"Yes." He finally answers when he turns back around and goes to his bed. He kneels on the edge of the bed and Naruto wiggles over to make room. They both used to easily fit on the mattress together, but now that they have both had a growth spurt and are starting another, their sides are pressed together snuggly and they have to lean in to avoid rolling off the bed. It has become some sort of bedtime ritual for Naruto to lay on his bed first before migrating to his own. They both find it hard to sleep if they don't unwind this way first, even after a long mission.

Naruto's knee bumps Sasuke's as he turns on his side and props his head up in his palm. "Ah man, I'm going to flunk! I don't know how to calculate a kunai trajectory, I just throw the damn thing. This is so lame." Naruto leans over Sasuke to grab the glass of water the Uchiha always keeps on his bedside table. Sasuke inhales his intoxicating scent and stares at the bare chest right over his face for a moment before closing his eyes and holding his breath. A drop of water dribbles down Naruto's chin and plops on Sasuke's cheek. The blond sets the water glass back down and wipes the stray droplet off his friend's face mindlessly as he settles back down obliviously next to the flustered black haired teen.

After a moment spent composing himself once again, Sasuke replies. "Just cheat off of one of us. We'll use the code Sakura devised. You remember it, right?" She drilled it into them for days and has even started using it on missions. Kakashi doesn't even completely understand it yet. It's a language for just the three of them.

"Yeah I guess. And maybe I'll be next to Hinata-chan or Shikamaru, or someone else that would help." Naruto starts drawing lazy circles on Sasuke's arm but he doesn't even notice, his mood immediately souring at the mention of the Hyuga heiress. She's perfectly polite, nice even, but whenever Sasuke sees the pretty girl hanging around watching Naruto it makes him grit his teeth. Even he has to admit that it is jealousy that courses through his veins when the blond grins at her in his charming way. It doesn't annoy him when his friend smiles at anyone else, but when Hinata blushes and demurely averts her eyes from Naruto's incandescence, Sasuke wishes for nothing more than to light something on fire.

Naruto talks for a little while longer, Sasuke grunting and humming in response as needed, before he gets up and turns off the light. It's only when the blond's steady snoring has filled the room that the Uchiha drifts off into a dreamless sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Just a couple things:

Before you get mad about a surprise pairing, just keep in mind this is still early in the story and I chose pairing tags for a reason

I would love to read guesses for where you think I may be going with the story. I already have a general layout planned, but I'm still curious what you might think.

Kakashi watches the Sound genin exit the exam building and greet their sensei. Using his Sharingan he knows none of them are holding a henge, but that doesn't mean he isn't suspicious of the four-man squad from the new village. Very little is known about the Hidden Sound except that they are made up of a lot of former rogue nin and that they're still accepting more in return for protection from other villages' hunter nin. The other hidden villages have all signed a treaty to not take each other's deserters, but the Sound has made it very clear they will not be following suit. So far no one of great concern has been known to join the fledgling village, so no official actions have been sanctioned by any of the Kage. That doesn't mean Tsunade or any of the others trust them. Kakashi is missing his genin's first attempt at the chunin exams just to act as her personal spy. He'll have to follow them around for stage two all while staying undetected by proctors, including those from Konoha. Otherwise his team will be automatically disqualified and permanently ineligible for promotion because it will look like they're cheating and Kakashi won't be able to reveal the classified reason for his presence to save them. So best to just not be seen.

"We totally killed that! Let's go get Ichiraku to celebrate!" Naruto's voice rings out through the clearing below and Kakashi is momentarily distracted from his task as he glances down. Naruto has his arms around both of his teammates as they stroll out the doors of the exams. Judging by the fact that Sasuke has yet to push him away and by Sakura's and Naruto's matching grins, they got through the first round. Kakashi wasn't worried. Between Sakura's genius and Sasuke's cunning he knew they'd get Naruto through the written portion.

And besides, he's familiar with Ibiki's style. The deciding factor was likely not even a test of knowledge, but of teamwork. Kakashi is willing to bet his life's savings that none of the other teams can even rival team 7 in that category. With Sakura's decision to continue her kunoichi training over becoming a medic nin, she has fully taken on the role as the shot caller of the trio. She developed a secret language made up of hand signs, nods, and even eye contact that Kakashi hasn't even fully deciphered yet, having not had the chance to observe it with his Sharingan. Even on missions outside of the village where Kakashi is officially in command, Sakura still has a tendency to take charge, growing more confident each time when Kakashi does nothing to reprimand her for taking the lead. Admittedly, at first it was hard for him to allow her to place herself in danger. Because of her kindness and her healing capabilities, he couldn't help but draw parallels between her and Rin. But they're different, and he can't force Sakura into a box because of his own fears and insecurities. Besides, he has a feeling she would tear him a new one with her newly developed monster strength if he ever tried to hold her back. Her temper is scarily reminiscent of their Hokage's, and Kakashi has noticed that even though she is a young genin, her reputation among more experienced shinobi is already starting to develop, especially now that she has been summoned several times for training sessions with the Hokage herself.

And while Sakura has been blossoming into a once-a-generation leader, Sasuke's emotional walls are slowly lowering as he grows more comfortable in his position within his team. The combination of Naruto's charisma, Sakura's emotional intuition, and Kakashi's intensive (and mind-numbing) training methods, the young Uchiha has been able to vastly improve in all areas of his life. Sometimes he still sinks into one of his moods, something that looks painfully familiar to Kakashi from his own teenage years, but his team is able to pull him out and keep him focused on the present and future instead of the past. Sasuke's speed and eyes, especially in combination with Sakura's genjutsus to create an opening, make him the perfect blitzkrieg fighter. Most of their strategies hinge on him taking out the strongest target with the element of surprise. Now that Kakashi has taught him chidori, his first strike is almost always a death sentence. While the other two shy away from killing and instead incapacitate their targets, the Uchiha is probably already in the double digits for confirmed kills. While upper level shinobi are often required to take lives on their missions, Konoha emphasizes that if it is not explicitly in the contract that they must kill, it is up to the individual. Kakashi long ago learned to accept the fact that anyone he encounters as an enemy on a mission signed off by Tsunade will not be an innocent, but there has recently been a staggering drop in the number of Konoha shinobi willing to accept missions where they may have to kill, which still exist despite the ban on assassination missions. While Kakashi is worried about Sasuke's willingness to kill, he knows logically that Konoha needs shinobi like him, and that as long as he maintains some sort of moral compass he will soon be a great asset to the village. As of now, it seems as though the Uchiha's violence is motivated by his instinct to protect his teammates, so Kakashi will continue to closely monitor his actions without saying a word.

Naruto's conviction and stamina are mind boggling to Kakashi. The blond has limped miles on a broken ankle while carrying an unconscious Sasuke when they were temporarily separated from Sakura and Kakashi. There has been no injury that keeps him down when there's still an active threat to Team 7. And even without the Kyuubi, his chakra reserves are staggering, already almost on par with Kakashi's and he's been training for two decades. Hopefully Jiraiya is able to stick around for a while after the chunin exams so he can help the young jinchuuriki start to unlock his full potential. Kakashi has heard that the brother of the Raikage, the eight tails jinchuriki, is able to utilize the full power of the bijuu. He doesn't know how accurate those claims are, but Jiraiya would. If anyone can help Minato's son figure out how to tame the nine tails contained within the Yondaime's seal, it's Minato's sensei. And on top of his reserves and perseverance, Naruto has also demonstrated great potential for seal work and ninjutsu, just like his mother. Kushina is the one who taught Minato about Fuinjutsu in the first place, and he would never have been able to perfect even his signature technique, the Flying Thunder God, without her expertise. Although he has never met them and will tragically never have the chance, Naruto is the perfect embodiment of everything good in his parents.

A bittersweet smile passes his lips as Kakashi remembers his old team. He has a second chance here and he won't let it end like the last time. With a resolute nod he flickers off to the forest of death. The second round will start this afternoon, and he needs to get in before the chakra detecting barriers go up.

Naruto flies through the trees between his teammates, feeling rather dumb in this arrangement without a client or package to carry or guard. It makes sense for Sasuke to take point with his Sharingan and for Sakura to take rear because she is the better sensor and can lay genjutsu traps if they are being pursued, but nonetheless he feels useless just hanging out in the middle. He says as much allowed, to which Sasuke snarkily agrees that he is useless and Sakura just snorts and rolls her eyes when he looks over his shoulder. Knowing he'll receive no sympathy for his self-pity, Naruto sulks silently while trying to keep his eyes and ears peeled for another team. They need to find a team with a different scroll within 72 hours and take it with them to the north tower, or they won't even make it to the final round. Hopefully this part of the exam will be a breeze like the last one, as they already have plenty of experience on similar missions together. The amount of times they've had to track down bandits to retrieve a lord's valuables and return them in one piece, you would think the elite of fire country are just leaving their precious belongings out on their front steps. Fighting another genin team should be no problem for team 7. Sakura might even be able to use one of her genjutsus to subdue a whole squad and they could just walk right up to them and take the scroll. Or the three could just knock them out cold and do the same thing. The possibilities are endless. After sitting cooped up in a classroom for hours this morning, he's is itching for a spar.

Naruto's eyes focus on the Uchiha fan on Sasuke's back and his frown deepens. He knows Sasuke would never hurt an innocent or a friend. But lately he's been very violent on missions, even killing some of their adversaries. They're always thugs and criminals, and it only happens when his own or Sakura's wellbeing are threatened, but simply knocking them out would serve the same purpose. Naruto is worried that Sasuke might take things too far during the exams, whether it's this round or the next. They were told explicitly that they would not be penalized for killing other genin, which made most of those around them shake in their boots. Naruto didn't miss the worried glances the other Konoha teams shot at Sasuke.

"Let's stop for the day." Sakura calls ahead to her teammates. Naruto is snapped out of his thoughts and quickly follows the pinkette as she speeds ahead of himself and Sasuke to a particularly thick tree ahead. They follow her to a ground and start setting up camp with the supplies in their standardized survival pack they were given just before entering the forest. Sakura starts setting up genjutsu and wire traps around camp and sends Naruto and Sasuke off to refill their canteens at the nearby stream and look for food.

"Hey bastard, can I ask you something?" Naruto says after he has finished filling the three canteens and has sat down in the grass next to Sasuke's feet. The Uchiha's Sharingan is activated and he stands poised with a fist full of kunai, ready to catch their dinner in the stream. He doesn't even blink when he replies. "You just did."

"Could you not be a prick for just two seconds?" Before Sasuke can reply Naruto continues. "I'm being serious here. I want to know why you always kill on missions when knocking them out would work instead?"

Sasuke doesn't even hesitate when he whips the kunai at the water. Seconds later four fish float to the surface. He calmly walks on the water and stoops to scoop up his catch. When he stands up his Sharingan is still activated as he holds eye contact with Naruto.

"Because an enemy that isn't dead is an enemy that can kill you. And I'm not willing to take any chances." Naruto feels a shiver run down his spine as Sasuke stalks toward him. He offers a hand to Naruto and pulls him to his feet. They stand unusually close and neither break eye contact. "I won't lose any more of my precious people." And with that he steps around Naruto and walks in the direction of camp.

Naruto's mouth is dry and he has to force himself to swallow and lick his lips before trotting to catch up to his teammate. His ears are burning and his palms have started to sweat. _I'm one of his precious people?_ Despite himself, Naruto feels a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. He takes a deep breath to snap himself out of it and forces out what he has been wanting to say for a while.

"Well I'm glad you didn't say it was because you like killing, because I would have had to kick your ass. But just because Sakura or I are in danger doesn't mean you need to kill our attacker. We can take care of ourselves you know!" Sasuke opens his mouth to reply but Naruto clamps his hand over the other teen's lips. "So will you just promise me that you won't kill..." Sasuke gives him a look and Naruto continues, "-unless it's absolutely necessary?"

Sasuke stops walking and Naruto turns to face him, slowly lowering his hand. The blond fights the urge to not fidget under the dark gaze that is holding him captive. He's always loved Sasuke's eyes. They make him think of the nights when they used to sneak out of their respective homes as kids to look for shooting stars in the night sky. Or of the calm of the rolling depths of the ocean just after the sun has set. Naruto licks his lips again.

Sasuke's eyes dart to his mouth for a second before focusing back on Naruto's eyes. _Did he just-_

"I promise." Sasuke finally says before turning to keep walking. Naruto watches him go.

Sakura blinks in confusion before looking to Sasuke in confusion. One second the freaky woman had them under a genjutsu and Sakura thought she was going to die from sheer terror, and the next thing they knew she was gone in a blur. Sasuke's Sharingan is activated and a deep frown marrs his face. "I think that was Kakashi." He says.

Sakura's mouth falls open and she quickly scans the surroundings. Why would their sensei be in the forest? Why would he interfere in this battle? Was he trying to cheat? Does he have that little faith in his team? Sakura feels rage boiling up in her and lets out a shriek of anger. "I swear to Kami if that shit just got us disqualified-"

"WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED?"

Sakura wheels around to see Naruto running towards her and Sasuke covered in a mysterious goo. They were seperated a few minutes ago when Naruto wandered off to take a piss in the woods and were ambushed by that woman using a henge to look like the blond. After reaching out with her chakra briefly, Sakura confirms that this is definitely their Naruto.

"What is that?" Sasuke makes a face and steps away from Naruto. Sakura covers her nose when the stench hits her. "It smells like vomit."

"Stomach acid and bile, actually." Naruto corrects. "A giant snake ate me and I was almost digested! Some crazy woman summoned it and said something about getting rid of 'the Uchiha's' teammates". Sakura and Naruto both look at their surprised teammate. "What the fuck did you do to her?" Naruto asks.

"I didn't know her. But Kakashi just appeared and shushined away with her." He goes back to scanning their surroundings, kekkei genkai still activated.

Sakura is brought back to her previous anger with their sensei. "He better have a good reason for jeopardizing our careers." She taps her foot. "Should we go looking for him?"  
There's an explosion in the distance and all three teammates look at eachother. "I think we just found him." Sasuke replies.

Without hesitation, Team 7 takes to the trees in formation. Sakura's still pissed, but their Sensei's survival is above all else. He must have a good reason for intervening as he did. That woman's chakra and presence was not that of a genin's. To summon a snake big enough to swallow Naruto whole would take way too much chakra, even for a chunin. Something strange is going on.

They're quickly approaching the area where smoke is billowing up above the trees. That has to be where Kakashi went. No one else in these woods would know a technique powerful enough to cause that kind of destruction. "When we get there I'll cast my strongest genjutsu. Sasuke, go right for her throat. Naruto, if Kakashi-sensei is in danger get him out of there. Otherwise, be ready with a follow up attack." She commands, not even bothering to glance at her teammates for confirmation that they'll follow orders. After months of being on the same team and years of friendship, she trusts them just as much as they trust her. None of them would ever let the other down.

Just before they burst through the foliage of trees, Sakura weaves through several quick hand signs and comes to a stop on a branch to fully concentrate. She knows this woman is also familiar with genjutsu, so trapping her in a crazy illusion will not work. The smaller the change, the bigger the impact, in this case. Because of her apparent snake affinity, Sakura decides to muddle the scent and sight senses. Right when she finishes she gives the signal and Sasuke flies past her with the chidori already fully manifested. Her eyes can't follow him as he is suddenly down in the clearing, his fist through the woman's throat. Naruto is on the ground seconds later grabbing their injured sensei and retreating to the edge of the clearing, back toward Sakura. He hands of their sensei before going back down to Sasuke. The Uchiha is ripping his fist from the bloody mess, but is forced to spring back when the woman dissolves into a pile of vicious snakes.

"Sensei what are you-"

"Get Sasuke out of here now!" Kakashi thunders, pushing back to his feet as if the bleeding wound in his thigh is nothing. Before Sakura can reply he has flickered back down to the battle and blocked a barrage of kunai headed for his other two genin. Sakura quickly gets to her feet and jumps down into the fray, barely managing to place herself between Naruto's exposed back and a snake in time to sever it's head. It's venomous fangs are inches from her face.

"Sensei says to retreat. We need to get you out of here!" Sakura yells, locking eyes with Sasuke.

He sneers at her and replies "I'm not some pathetic kid in need of protecting! I can-"

"GO. NOW!" Kakashi yells, interrupting the squabble before it can start. "He wants your eyes, Sasuke! Don't let him-" Before he can finish, the woman attacks him with a katana and forces his retreat.

"You think you can stop me, Kakashi-kun? Don't you remember what happened to your last team? I'll make sure I kill these brats before I finish you. Maybe I'll even let you kill the girl, just like-" Before the woman can finish Kakashi has lit her on fire with his strongest fire jutsu. Sakura has never seen so much rage in her sensei's eyes. He looks almost feral with it.

She grabs her teammates by the arms and starts running, and they follow despite their protesting. "We can't just leave him!" Naruto yells.

Sakura shakes her head. "We're going to find help! We need to trigger the border jutsu and get the ANBU's attention before-"

A stabbing pain in her calf is all the warning Sakura has before she goes down hard on the forest floor. She looks over her shoulder and sees the woman's teeth sunk into her flesh. She fights down the terrified scream in her throat when she sees how the throat has elongated to reach her from the woman's body across the clearing. Her face is half melted off, but she still cackles when she releases Sakura's leg. She isn't human. This is a monster. Zabuza can't even compare to the calibre of this. At least he could be killed.

The face lunges for Sakura's neck and is barely intercepted by Sasuke bringing his katana crashing down straight through the monster's skull. Sakura almost wretches at the brain matter, and Sasuke jumps back with her just in time as she realizes that it isn't a brain but a coil of more snakes. Naruto intercepts this time with a wind jutsu to create a barrier to keep the little demons back.

They hear a deep chuckle from a few feet away and the woman stands there, half melted. Slowly she peels away her skin as if she is a molting snake, and there stands a man, even more horrifying than the woman. Sakura instantly recognizing the face from the hours she has spent scouring the bingo book she stole off her sleeping sensei on a mission. He's on the first page with bolded instructions to **flee on sight**. "Orochimaru", she breathes.

"I see my reputation precedes me." He says, stalking forward while eyeing his prey. His tongue licks his chin where Sakura's blood contrasts eerily with his grey skin. "I'm afraid I don't know your name girl, but I'll make sure to find out for the future." His eyes flicker to her glowing green hand that is healing the deep bite wound on her calf. "You may be useful to me and Sasuke-kun in the future." His eyes switch to the Uchiha, who steps slightly in front of his teammates. His Sharingan is spinning rapidly, and his lips are pulled back in a snarl. Orochimaru laughs. "Oh my, what a fearsome look. It reminds me of your brother's. I look forward to seeing what those eyes are capable of when I have a willing subject." And without warning his neck elongates once again, aiming right for Sasuke's.

Kakashi watches in horror as he is moments too late to stop Orochimaru. But just when he drives his fist through the snake's chest with another chidori, Anko appears and takes Sasuke out by the legs, catches him, and rolls away. Orochimaru's fangs close on nothing and he hisses in anger and pain.

"Long time no see, you creepy bastard." Anko says as she quickly gets to her feet, putting herself between the dazed Uchiha and her former mentor. Kakashi looks around and sees they have been surrounded by ANBU. He can't help the breath of relief that escapes him.

"While I would love to stay and test out your progress dear Anko, it appears I have overstayed my welcome." He dissolves into snakes which quickly disappear into the overgrowth of the forest. Kakashi feels a genjutsu slide over the clearing as they hear a disembodied voice.

"But don't worry, I'll be back again for the boy soon."

After a few moments of silence, Kakashi wearily sinks to the ground, his vision blotchy from blood loss. Just when he thinks he's about to pass out, he feels a cool hand press against his forehead and his thigh. Slowly his vision focuses again and he sees Sakura's face as she bites her bottom lip in concentration as she heals him.

Orochimaru knew exactly what he was doing earlier when he goaded Kakashi with the mention of his team. It made him act rashly, and it almost cost him his team. Again. He thought he had left his past behind after years of therapy, but apparently that was wrong. Obito's, Rin's, and Minato's deaths still feel like a fresh wound to his gut. At just the thought of them he feels like he can't breathe. He hasn't dealt with it, merely suppressed it. Kakashi needs to figure out what to do about this before it costs him the lives of these three. He couldn't bare another loss like that.

"The wound is closed and I've burned the poison out of his most vital organs, but you need to take him to the Lady Hokage or Shizune-sama soon or he'll be dead." Sakura tells the nearest ANBU. Kakashi almost laughs at how his thirteen year old student is bossing around these high ranking grown men. While her kindness and abilities are so much like Rin, her temper and self assurance remind him almost of Kushina. His sensei's wife was the bravest and strongest person he ever knew, and Sakura is no different. He saw how terrified she was of Orochimaru, and she still came to his defense.

Kakashi actually does chuckle when the ANBU she addressed nods his head and steps forward to pick Kakashi up. The last thing he sees before they shushin away is Sakura's eyes. She looks so relieved, but he can also see the confusion and anger. She'll definitely have words for him later.

"Ja ne!" He calls.

Sasuke lies down next to Naruto after Sakura relieves him from the middle shift of night watch. He and Naruto insisted on taking first and second watch so she could get sleep right away to rest up, since she used the most chakra from their encounter with Orochimaru. He won't call it a fight, because that would imply any of them had stood a chance. Even Kakashi suffered a mortal wound, and the only reason he'll be okay is because of their female teammate.

As per usual, Naruto latches on to Sasuke in his sleep as soon as he's in the giant sleeping roll. The blond had previously been attached to Sakura, as he unconsciously is drawn to body heat like a bug to a light. On missions he and Sakura fight over who has to sleep next to him, a fight which Sasuke always 'loses'. Normally he's able to fall asleep quickly from exhaustion, but he hasn't been able to still his thoughts since Orochimaru's ambush. At least his hyper-awareness of Naruto's warm breath on the side of his neck and the way their legs are twined together is enough of a distraction to get his mind off of the implication that Sasuke would one day work with that monster.

Sasuke isn't sure how much time has past when he hears Sakura shift and looks up to see her green eyes glimmering in the fire as she looks at him. She glances meaningfully at Naruto before returning her gaze to him and he can't help the blush that crawls up his neck. How does she know? He scowls at her when she giggles quietly.

"I wonder which of you will be in denial for longer." She says quietly, and Sasuke has to fight the urge to hide under the blanket from embarrassment.

"We are not having this conversation." He replies, glancing nervously at Naruto's face to make sure he's still sleeping soundly.

"When did you first realize?" Sakura says, completely ignoring his dismissal.

"When did you?" Sasuke retorts defensively.

Sakura doesn't respond right away, her face still as she's lost in thought for a moment. "I guess I've always known." Sasuke is startled by her admission. _Sakura likes girls?_

"But it's not so much about their gender to me. I think it has to be someone I'm really comfortable with." She looks up at her headband, which she took off the standard Konoha headband material and re-sewed the metal on a red ribbon. She's worn it for almost as long as he can remember, and he remembers that Ino had given it to her when they first met.

"Does that mean you like Naruto and I?" Sasuke says, genuinely curious, but also keeping her distracted from questioning him.

Sakura snorts and shakes her head. "You two are like brothers to me. I would apologize, but I know you aren't attracted to me either."

Sasuke huffs in amusement at her sharp jab at him. She's always been so good at battles of wit. "So what?" He mutters.

"So, I'm just saying that you're being a little bit obvious. Just wanted to know if you're going to act on it anytime soon." She grins when he turns his head away in embarrassment, only to realize his face is in Naruto's unruly locks. He blushes harder and glares at a branch as if he's trying to set it on fire with a look. He hates this conversation with every fibre of this being.

"And what about you? Are you just going to keep staring at Ino longingly from afar?" He turns back to Sakura with a smirk and she looks surprised. He can tell she didn't realize that anyone had noticed her recent weird behaviour around Ino.

"Shh!" She says, pressing a finger to her lips. "Don't say names you moron!" Her cheeks blaze and she turns away from him, pouting while staring into the fire.

Sasuke grins in the dark and is about to press his advantage when a glinting kunai catches his attention in the firelight. Before his Sharingan is even fully activated, he hurls the kunai beneath his pillow to intercept the weapon's direct path towards Sakura's forehead. Both weapons clatter to the ground.

Everything happens so quickly. Someone presses a kunai to Sasuke's and Naruto's throats while another jumps on Sakura to twist her arms behind her back and press her face into the dirt. Sasuke has his fingers under the blanket poised for a substitution jutsu, and before his attacker knows what's happened, he has swapped himself and Naruto with a tree branch. Sasuke stands on the tree trunk with charka enhanced soles holding Naruto over his shoulder. The blond thrashes awake just in time to see the enemy holding Sakura's arms tugged down and smashed in the face with the back of Sakura's head. The teen howls in pain and stumbles backwards clutching her nose as blood pours out. Sakura quickly roles out of the way of a barrage of kunai from the forest and gets to her feet, fists clenched as she sinks into a defensive position.

"Sakura you bitch, what the fuck!" Ino howls as gingerly releases her nose, only to reclamp it when blood continues to pour.

"I'm the bitch? Ino, your team just ambushed us! You could have broken my arms!" Sakura points her finger accusingly. "Ambushing someone in their sleep, that's a low, even for you Ino-pig."

Ino makes a face at Sakura, injury momentarily forgotten. "All's fair in love and war forehead!" Sasuke has to fight the upward twitching of his lips when he sees the goosebumps form on Sakura's arms. His eyes catch the glinting of another kunai, and after dropping Naruto unceremoniously he lunges off the tree toward Shikamaru, hooking an arm around his neck and dragging him to the ground. He drags the slightly shorter teen into the small clearing and glares across the clearing at a sheepish looking Choji, who is still standing up on the tree above where they had been sleeping, having used his expansion jutsu to ambush Sasuke and Naruto.

"Give us your scroll and we'll let you leave with no further injuries." Sasuke says in his most even tone, knowing it sounds more intimidating then if he were trying. He throws Shikamaru on the ground and points his katana at him, the tip hovering just above his hands, which are just about to come together in a seal for his shadow manipulation jutsu. Slowly he brings them apart, slowly holding them up.

Naruto walks into the clearing rubbing the lump on his head from being dropped by Sasuke. "You bastard, Sasuke. Wait, Shikamaru? Ino? Choji? What are you doing here?" He notices the blood on Ino and Sasuke's drawn weapon and suddenly realization dawns on him. He laughs loudly as he walks over to Shikamaru, crouching over him so he can peer down at his face to gloat. "Did you seriously try to ambush us while Sakura and Sasuke were both on watch? You really fucked up there." he thinks for a moment. "Hey, wait a minute! Why were you two both up without me? You know I hate it when you leave me out of the conversation!" He points accusingly at his teammates. Sasuke just rolls his eyes and frowns and Sakura pretends like she didn't hear him, continuing to stare at Ino.

Shikamaru gives Ino a look, and after a huff of exasperation and flipping Sakura off, she tosses the pinkette a scroll. "Sweet, that's the one we need! Thanks guys!" Naruto exclaims, going to retrieve it from Sakura. He's always the one on missions that carries the package, so this is no different.

"Fuck off, Naruto. It's not as if we need it. We'll just go wait to steal off a team who already has both." Ino flips her hair over her shoulder like she's not worried and walks over to Shikamaru and Sasuke. She boldly flicks Sasuke's sword out of the way and helps her teammate to his feet. She walks back towards Sakura and gets in her face. "I'll be sending you the hospital bill for this." She points to her still bleeding nose and goes to storm away. Sakura's hand shoots out and grabs her wrist.

"Wait, come here. I can at least heal that for you before we leave. If you can even manage to pass this round, you might not have time to go to the hospital before the next."

Ten minutes later, Team 7 and Team 10 are sitting around the fire, eating their rations together quietly while Sakura heals Ino's nose. While Sakura uses her canteen to clean the blood off of the blonde's face, Sasuke and Naruto pack up their camp supplies while bickering about who has to carry them for the day. Sasuke notices the look Shikamaru and Choji exchange while observing the two pairs and with a scowl takes the large bag and throws it over his shoulder. Naruto cheers and throws an arm around the Uchiha's shoulders as they walk over to Sakura. Ino is fixing the bandana in Sakura's hair while the pinkette looks everywhere but at Ino as the girl is leaning into her. "It's time to go. Best of luck." Sasuke says, exchanging a look with the amused Naara. With one last glance at Sakura, who has stepped away from Ino and back to his side, Sasuke jumps off into the forest canopy, closely followed by his team. He needs answers, and he needs to be out of this damned forest to get them.

A/N: Just a couple things:

Before you get mad about a surprise pairing, just keep in mind this is still early in the story and I chose pairing tags for a reason

I would love to read guesses for where you think I may be going with the story. I already have a general layout planned, but I'm still curious what you might think.


	5. Chapter 5

Kakashi sits in a hospital bed with Tsunade glowering at him from the door. She's just been standing there for a minute staring at him, saying nothing. Kakashi can't bear the tension any longer. "Hello Lady Ts-"

"Oh save it." She growls, striding the rest of the way into his room and slamming the door behind her. "I told you not to be caught, you idiot. What happened out there?"

Kakashi looks up at the ceiling. "He attacked Sasuke directly. I had no choice but to intervene. But I didn't interfere with their exam besides saving them from Orochimaru so-"

"Oh relax, I'm not kicking them out. Only ANBU and Anko are aware of your presence in the forest, and I already have their oaths of silence. No one will ever find out that team 7 cheated."

"Actually-"

"Drop it, Kakashi." Lady Tsunade growls, examining his almost empty I.V. bag and then stopping to read his medical charts. "It looks like Shizune was able to neutralize the venom successfully. As soon as you can stand without feeling dizzy, I need you back out there. Your team just finished their third round preliminaries and will need further instruction for their month long training period for the final round in the arena. All three advanced through their preliminary fights. I can convince Jiraiya to take on Naruto for the time being and I'll take Sakura myself, but I need you watching the Uchiha 24/7. Take him out of the village to an undisclosed location, and make sure no one knows where you go. Train him like nothing is out of the ordinary, but keep an eye out for that snake or his spy."

"He has a spy?" Kakashi inquires, already swinging his legs out of bed. He quickly locates his clothes and brings them into the attached bathroom with him. He still feels a little woozy, but with every passing second that he's vertical it becomes more tolerable. He's very relieved to hear all three members of team 7 seven will be advancing. He has been neglecting his own training ever since they were assigned to him, and it showed in his fight against Orochimaru. Without the distraction his three genin created, he would have died before Anko and the ANBU arrived.

"He has to. There's no other way he would have been able to sneak into the forest. He has insider information if he figured out how to get past the barrier." Tsunade's voice is slightly muffled by the closed door between them, but Kakashi is still perfectly able to understand her. After relieving his bladder and splashing his face with cold water, he leans on the sink for support. He rarely sees his own uncovered face, and he can't help but stare at the long scar and Sharingan spinning lazily at the center. _Rin. Obito._ His eye socket aches and the eye itself is bloodshot. From just one battle it is extremely overworked. He could tell Tsunade about it and she'd probably figure out a treatment plan, like the brilliant medical shinobi she is, but that would mean removing him from active duty, at least for a while so she could run labs and tests. And if there's one thing in this world that Kakashi hates more than anything, it's being inactive. His mind is too full of ghosts to give it even a moment's rest. With a slow and deep breath, Kakashi lowers his hitai-ate and raises his mask. With both in place he can't see the physical reminders of his dead loved ones. Forgetting is still the only way he can deal with the loss.

"Well hopefully when Jiraiya arrives he can look for the rat." Kakashi suggests when he exits the bathroom. Tsunade doesn't even glance at him as she stares out the window, which has a nice view overlooking the village. It's a beautiful day.

"He's already back and looking into it. He's met Naruto too, so you won't even have to introduce them when you drop the twerp off. I'll tell Jiraiya to meet him at the bridge near the hot springs this afternoon." She pauses for a moment and taps her chin. "Actually, why don't you send Sakura along this afternoon as well. I have a meeting with the other Kage to finalize security arrangements for all of the daimyos. After that my schedule should be flexible enough to fit in time with her every day."

Kakashi nods and opens the window, ready to jump out to avoid the overbearing hospital staff. Tsunade's arm on his bicep stops him. "There's one other thing, Kakashi."

A mixture of sweat, dirt, and blood trickles down the side of Sasuke's face as he breathes heavily, muscles tightly coiled in anticipation as he stares down Kakashi. They have been away from Konoha for a week now, and the older man hasn't given Sasuke more than two hours of sleep at any given time, always dragging him from one location to the next. The first three days were spent walking up a turbulent river, that with each day just grew more choppy and harder to stay atop of. Yesterday they were at the Valley of the End, climbing the rocks with just their arms and no chakra, from dusk till dawn. Today they've been sparring in the woods, and Kakashi hasn't been pulling any of his punches or handicapping his insane speed at all. Sasuke is covered in scratches and bruises, and he thinks he may have dislocated his shoulder, but he was just knocked to the ground a minute ago and heard a pop, and he's pretty sure that put it back in place. He can use that arm again, at least.

"Alright we'll take a short break for food and a bath before we start working on your ninjutsu. We aren't going to bed until you are ready to pass out from chakra exhaustion." Kakashi flips down from the branch where he was perched. While he's also sweaty and dirty, there isn't a scratch on him. While he's getting better at dodging and parrying, Sasuke still is nowhere near fast enough to lay a finger on the copy ninja. He grits his teeth to keep from retorting, recognizing that while this type of intensive and all consuming training feels like torture, he is still seeing more progress in his own abilities than he ever has before. He doesn't remember even Itachi improving this much in such a condensed amount of time. At the thought of his brother, Sasuke sends a surge of electricity through the kunai still in his palm and hurls it with all his strength at a tree trunk. The thick wood shatters, and with a rumbling groan the tree slowly falls to the forest floor, where it lands with an earth shaking thud.

"Mah, Sasuke you shouldn't be so grumpy! Would you rather lose to Neji in front of thousands of people?" Kakashi misinterprets Sasuke's fury, but nonetheless his goading still works. Without a word, he stalks off toward the river. If he wants to eat, he has to catch his food first. Kakashi wouldn't allow him to bring any rations.

After stripping off all his clothes except his underwear, Sasuke crouches by the river to quickly scrub the dirt and blood from them. He hangs them from a tree branch to dry in the afternoon sun before wading into the refreshing water. With kunai in hand, he stands motionless, his Sharingan eyes flitting about as he searches for a fish. Finally spotting one, he hurls the kunai, catching the fish cleanly in the gills and pinning it to the bottom of the riverbed, instantly killing his prey. He takes a quick breath of air before submerging and boosting off the submerged rock where he was previously positioned. The river is only about ten feet deep, and he takes a moment once he reaches his catch to look up. The sun is obscured by the rippling current of the river and it glimmers down to him in a beautiful kaleidoscope of cerulean. _Just like Naruto's eyes_. He rolls his eyes at himself for the mushy thought. How pathetic. Kakashi has been kicking the shit out of him for a week and he's at the bottom of a riverbed with a dead fish in his hand, and he's still thinking about his blond teammate.

He spares a thought for his other teammate and smirks to himself. At least he gets a break from his crush. Ino is probably all over Sakura this month, since the blonde didn't advance to the next round after getting clobbered by Temari of the Sand. She's probably trying to help her friend train, but Sakura will be too distracted by the Yamanaka's revealing clothing to actually accomplish anything. At least Naruto wears a hideous orange tracksuit.

Sasuke realizes he's been under the surface for quite a while when his vision starts to get blotchy. He quickly boosts off the muddy riverbed and sucks in a deep breath when he surfaces. Kakashi is standing in just his underwear in mask, looking panicked and about to dive in when they make eye contact.

"I thought you were drowning yourself down there." Kakashi says when Sasuke raises an eyebrow in question. The Uchiha snorts in response.

"If I was going to kill myself, I'd have done it already." _It can't get much worse than it's already been._ Sasuke thinks to himself.

Kakashi huffs in amusement and catches the dead fish his student tosses to him. He gives the young teen a look that communicates his sympathy. "Touche." Is all he says before turning to walk back to camp. "Thanks for the dinner! You have twenty minutes to catch another and cook it before I put out the fire."

Sasuke rolls his eyes but activates his Sharingan to look for another fish. He doesn't know what exactly his sensei has been through, but whatever it was, Sasuke thinks he's likely the only one on his team that might actually understand Sasuke's pain and humiliation.

"Tsunade-sama, do you have a minute to talk? I have a few questions and I haven't been able to find any answers in any historical texts." Sakura is sitting with her back against a tre and her legs splayed out in front of her. She's been training with the Hokage for hours, and even after a healing session her body still aches from all of the broken bones and torn muscles. This is the first day that her new shishou has had a chance to spar with her, and she insisted they keep going even after the older woman had snapped both of her arms like twigs multiple times. Sakura was determined to show her new sensei how much she has learned from just a few lessons in the past two weeks. The pinkette has put in countless hours by herself practicing expelling miniscule amounts of chakra from all over her body to accelerate her movement and make her strikes more forceful, and she has even developed a method to heal herself without the use of her hands. It's still in the works and she can only use it on minor cuts and bruises, but the surprise and approval she saw in Tsunade's amber eyes when the older kunoichi noticed the technique made the near sleepless nights spent researching and honing her chakra control were worth it.

Tsunade doesn't have a scratch on her, although she did break a sweat sparing with the prospective chunin. She was about to shushin back to the Hokage tower for a quick shower and meal before resuming her mind numbing paperwork, but Sakura's question stops her in her tracks. She has an idea of what the girl is going to ask, and she feels she deserves answers. Plus, Tsunade will do anything to avoid paperwork.

"What is it?" She asks, leaning against a tree trunk and staring down at the tired genin.

Sakura reaches into her bag that she has pulled into her lap and rummages around until she finds the scroll she is looking for. To her utmost surprise, the scroll isn't about Orochimaru like she thought, but instead about Akatsuki. "Where did you find that?" She snaps, anger seeping into her tone. The girl is too young to know about such people. No matter how impressive her chakra control and her knack for creating her own techniques, the girl is still young and naive.

Sakura is unperturbed by her Hokage's tone and holds the scroll up for the older woman to se, pointing to a web drawn at the bottom. The name she is pointing to is Itachi Uchiha. Her finger slides over to the other side where Orochimaru's name is scrawled. "Orochimaru mentioned that he knew Itachi." Sakura explains, seeing confusion overtake Lady Tsunade's expression. "I knew from previous reading that Orochimaru was one of the Sannin, but he was illegally experimenting on live subjects and chased out of the village by the Third Hokage."

"How did you-"

"You wrote about it in your annotations in the copy of the third edition of the Konoha Medical Ethical Codes that you loaned me." Sakura explains. "And the fact that Orochimaru was one of your teammates isn't that hard to come across if you just flip to any random page of a history book on the second shinobi war."

Tsunade is still processing the fact that this fourteen year old genin was able to research all of this in a matter of a week when Sakura clears her throat and taps the scroll. "Now what I really wanted to ask you, is why Itachi joined Akatsuki."

Tsunade is silent for too long, so Sakura continues. "Itachi is the most peaceful person I've ever met. Why would he join an organization that 'seeks to capture the bijuu, presumably for power and domination'?" She runs her finger along a line written by Jiraiya further up the scroll.

"You never answered how you got a hold of that scroll. I could have you discharged and arrested. That scroll is so highly classified that not even your sensei has read it." Tsunade rips the scroll from the pinkette's grip and rolls it back up before shoving it in her cleavage for safe keeping.

"You gave me the hand seals for unlimited access to the Hokage archives after I did all of your paperwork last weekend." Sakura explains, and a hazy memory comes back to Tsunade. She had been two sake bottles deep and on her way to a weekend gambling retreat when her new rosy cheeked apprentice had volunteered for the task in exchange for the code. She had assumed the girl just wanted to read about the Byakugou seal, as that is what she has been badgering Tsunade about as of late.

"That still doesn't mean you can just-"

"Please Shisou. I need to know. Orochimaru wants Sasuke, and I'm afraid he'll use this to convince him to leave. And this also means Naruto is in constant danger from a force of S-class psychopaths that most shinobi don't even know exist. I need to know as much as I can to keep anything from happening. I won't let anyone harm my team. They've suffered too much already."

Tsunade can't bring herself to punish Sakura now that she has revealed her motives. Afterall, this is exactly the mindset Tsunade has been trying to cultivate among the new generation of shinobi. Even though she's known the girl for only a short while and has only taken her on as an apprentice for the past few weeks, she knows she can trust the promising kunoichi with her life. Still, she can't just tell the young girl top secret information when she doesn't have the clearance. "Tell you what, when you become one of my heads of a department or an ANBU captain I'll tell you. Now keep practicing that healing technique I saw you using. And stop by my office later and I'll loan you a few scrolls from my grandfather."

"But shishou-"

"No more questions, Sakura. You could be arrested for what you've already revealed to me. So stop digging and let me handle it."

"But-" Tsunade disappears in a flurry of leaves, leaving Sakura alone with no more information than she started with. "At least I'm not in handcuffs." Sakura mutters, having already known where that conversation could have gotten her. But she's desperate for answers, because without them, she doesn't know what potential scenarios she'll be facing. What if she's not there the next time Orochimaru comes for Sasuke? What if Akatsuki uses Itachi's insider information to take Naruto? What if Itachi takes Naruto? Would he even do that? What happened to change him so fundamentally as a person that he would join such a terrible group of murderers? And what does Orochimaru want an Uchiha for? If it's for their kekkei genkai, why does he specifically want theirs? And why the hell hasn't he been imprisoned or killed when he's been on the loose for decades?

With a deep sigh to dispel the weariness she feels to her bones, Sakura pulls out a large text on the history of the Uchiha that Mikoto loaned her. The two of them have discussed at length how out of character it was for Itachi to just leave. Mikoto was unable to follow him as she has been under house arrest, and Sakura is too weak and would be labeled a rogue if she were to just disappear. Besides, Team 7 needs her here where she can guard them and keep honing her skills so she can one day actually stand a chance against the threats they face. Sakura has sworn a sacred vow to Mikoto to protect her youngest son, and in return the woman has given the young kunoichi almost unlimited access to the clan's archives. She has come across mentions of a 'final form' of the Sharingan several times in the past week, but she hasn't had a chance to ask Mikoto what this refers to.

After hours of sitting hunched over the book rapidly devouring information on the warring states period from the Uchiha point of view, one that is almost the opposite of what they read at the academy, Sakura finishes the book and puts it back in her bag. The more she reads from the Uchiha library, the more aware she is of the fact that victors are the ones who record historical events. Sakura has always thought of the Senju as the 'good guys' of history, but she's quickly learning everything isn't so cut and dry. The next time she's on a mission she'll have to remember to buy a few books and scrolls on the ninja wars from other nations' points of view. She has a nagging feeling that she might discover the same about Konoha, which is a frightening notion. But she can't just avoid the truth because it scares her.

She slings her bag over her shoulder and uses a hand on the trunk behind her to gingerly ease her way onto her feet. The sun is just starting to set and she still has plenty to do, but her chakra is still not recovered enough to mess around with her working theories on the Byakugou or any of the new genjutsus she found recorded in the Uchiha's copied repertoire. She decides to trudge home for a long bath before going to bed early to get up before dawn. Her morning stretches and laps around the village will take quite a while and she wants to visit Mikoto for late morning tea and more information before going to see Tsuande for those scrolls she promised about the First Hokage's techniques.

She's just passing the best barbeque spot in town and contemplating going in after her stomach growls in protest when Team 10 exits the mouth watering restaurant. Ino's eyes light up when she sees her best friend and she shoos the boys before linking her arm with Sakura's and dragging her along for a post-meal walk.

"I haven't seen you in ages Forehead! How is it you look worse now than you did in the forest of death?" She teases, and Sakura glowers at Ino. The blonde's appearance is immaculate per usual, and her clothing choice for the day accentuates her growing curves. Sakura's own body has begun to change, but from her long days of training her frame will likely remain wiry and compact. Once she would have been horrified by the defined muscles on her arms, stomach, and legs, but they are physical reminders of her hard work and she can't bring herself to resent that.

The two catch up as they stroll around the village, Sakura momentarily forgetting her aching muscles and tired mind. Her eyes keep falling to the blonde's painted lips as her beautiful friend speaks, and it seems as if every time it happens, Ino catches her, but continues to chatter on about the latest gossip as if nothing is out of the ordinary. Finally after this happens for what feels like the twentieth time, Ino stops and pivots to place herself in front of Sakura, her hand on her hip as she tosses her ponytail over her shoulder. Sakura's face is bright red as the blonde leans in. "Why do you keep staring at my lips, Forehead?"

Sakura shouldn't be as surprised as she is. Ino's always this upfront with everybody, and the older she gets the more confident she is. "I-I like the shade of your lipstick." Sakura replies lamely after failing to think of a better excuse.

Ino snorts, knowing full well her friend could care less about makeup. These days her beauty routine consists of throwing her long pink hair up in a ponytail and wiping the grit from the corners of her eyes as she makes her way to the training grounds or library before the sun has risen. She knows this because the only way she can get Sakura's attention is if she walks with her on her way to the determined girl's destination. And Ino isn't used to working to get someone's attention. Normally it just takes a bat of her eyelashes and a coy smile and they don't leave her alone, man or woman. She always suspected Sakura had a crush on her, but lately with the lack of attention she isn't so sure.

"Here, take a swatch then." And before Sakura can react she plants a wet kiss on Sakura's cheek, leaving a perfect rouge lipstick print on the tanned skin. Sakura blushes pinker than her hair and Ino has to restrain her exclamation of triumph. _So she does like me after all._ With that knowledge, Ino gives an excuse for needing to get back to the flower shop before sauntering away, making sure to sway her hips a bit.

Naruto is used to being told he's dense. Sasuke mutters it every time Naruto puts his foot in his mouth when conversing with a cute girl. Sakura says it loudly while pulling on his ear when he speaks to his superiors frankly and without the traditional frills that are expected of him. Kiba says it every time he bumps into Team 8 and Hinata inevitably passes out or runs away. He probably hears it every single day. But even he knows something is up when he spots Sakura walking down the street with a deep blush and a hand clasped over the side of her face.

"Sakura-chan!" He calls as he jogs over to her. He hasn't seen her for over a week now, both of them having been kept busy by their new mentors. He doesn't hesitate to hug her, despite the dried sweat and dirt crusting his clothes and skin. She's not much cleaner, anyways.

"H-Hi Naruto, what's up?" She offers him a smile but he knows it's forced immediately. That's very unlike Sakura. She's terrible at hiding how she truly feels so she doesn't usually even attempt to hide it.

"Nothing much, just spent the whole day being shoved off a cliff so I could learn how to summon toads."

"...What?"

"Nevermind, what's wrong with your face? Did you get a scratch or something? You can heal that, can't you?" And without her permission he reaches out to grab her wrist and pull it away so he can take a look. She resists his tug firmly and steps back.

"Oh, it's nothing! Um… It's… It's just a… pimple. Yeah. A pimple. It looks gross so I was just covering until-" And before she can finish her lame excuse Naruto unceremoniously tackles her to the ground. In her surprise she throws her arms out to try to catch them but ends up sprawled on the ground.

"Naruto! You can't just-" She stops in the middle of her reprimand, her face going bright red at the shit eating grin that has spread across Naruto's face.

"Who have you been kissing, Sakura-chan?" He teases, running his thumb across the smeared lip print. She obviously tried to wipe it off, but the deep rouge color has stained her skin. She won't get that off until she scrubs it raw with soap and water.

"Keep your voice down!" She hisses while shoving him off her. They're in the middle of the street and a few people are still out and about, despite the sun having already disappeared below the tree line surrounding the village.

"Oh relax, Sa-" She slams her palm over his mouth before tugging him to his feet and dragging him along to her house. She jumps up to her window, probably to avoid her parents seeing her, and he quickly follows. He had also been on his way home, drowsy after a long day of training and a full stomach of ramen from Ichiraku's (that was paid for by Jiraiya!), but now he's wide awake and eager to find out what his female teammate has been up to. Jiraiya is great company and someone Naruto has already begun to look up to, but the Uzumaki sorely misses his team. He finds himself daydreaming about sparring with Sakura and laying in Sasuke's bed rambling in his ear more often than he thinks about food, which is a strange change for him.

Sakura sits down cross legged on her floor and Naruto quickly joins her, almost bouncing with excitement while he waits for Sakura to tell him about the girl. She's never really said anything about having a crush on anyone, but he always figured she talked to Ino about that kind of stuff. After all, he and Sasuke don't ever talk about that kind of thing either. But from the way she's nervously twitching and opening and closing her mouth like she doesn't know where to start, he wonders if maybe she doesn't ever talk about this kind of thing.

"Do I know her?" Naruto asks, trying to help the pinkette start somewhere.

She immediately nods and purses her lips together. He gives her a few seconds before pressing again. "Has she kissed you before?" Sakura shakes her head no this time.

With a cheeky grin, Naruto asks "Are you happy she did?"

Sakura buries her face in her hands and he hears the deep frustrated sigh she lets out. "I don't know." comes her muffled reply. "I'm afraid."

"Why?" Naruto asks immediately. "You know that no one will care, Sakura. Only the hoighty toighty clans give two shits about traditional-"

"It's Ino." Sakura cuts him off, looking up at him with big round eyes and nervously biting her lip. "Ino kissed me. And I kind of hope she does it again." The last part is barely louder than a whisper.

"Oh." Is his lame response, as his brain shifts gears. And here he thought Sakura was upset because it was a girl. "That… That's…"

"Yeah." Sakura agrees, nodding her head. "Yeah it's complicated."

Naruto rubs his chin and looks around the room, trying to gather his thoughts. He can't help but notice all of the picture frames on the walls, almost half of them taken with the Yamanaka in question. Ino's her best friend. "It would be like if Sasuke kissed me." He says, suddenly a train of thought coming to him. "That would be…" He trails off as he realizes he doesn't know how he feels about that. "Okay bad example. Nevermind. Um-"

"Wait wait wait wait. No continue." Sakura leans forward and placed her hands on Naruto's knees. "How is that any different?"

Naruto scratches the back of his head and a faint blush colors his cheeks. "Well, you know I…He would never do that so it doesn't make sense to compare that to you and Ino."

He swears Sakura's eyes glint in the light like a cat stalking her prey. "But would you kiss him?"

"Sakura-"

"I think you're the Ino in this situation." She says before he can respond. "Except you're more dense."

Naruto snorts and rolls his eyes. "What does that have to do with anything?" He mutters, not letting himself dwell on the thought long enough to come to any conclusions. "And anyways, are you saying that Ino perceived something? So you do like her?" His grin is back as Sakura retreats again.

"I'm not sure." Sakura mumbles. Naruto remains silent, waiting for her to continue. "I think she's pretty. But so does everyone else. And… I think I like guys too. But… but Ino is… different. She's… Ino. I'm just so confused." And Naruto gets what she's trying to say.

"I feel the same way." Naruto reassures her when he sees the uncertainty and vulnerability on Sakura's face. Normally she has all the answers for everything. She isn't used to being confused like Naruto is. He's sure she's terrified. "I think girls are cute, but I also catch myself staring at guys. It's…." Naruto trails off, not sure what word to use.

"A lot." Sakura finishes for him, a small smile of relief on her face. "It's just a lot."

"Yeah." He agrees, giving her shoulder a comforting squeeze. "So when are you going to kiss her back?" He laughs as Sakura jokingly slugs him in the chest and tackles him. Even though he is already comfortable with the fact that he likes guys and girls, he's happy to finally have someone to talk to about it. He feels less lonely.

After teasing her a bit more and catching up with each other on what they've been working on in training for the past few weeks, Naruto slips out her window to go back to the orphanage. He's officially signed for an apartment for himself and Sasuke to move into when the Uchiha gets back, but he's too lazy to move all of their stuff on his own. Besides, Sasuke is anal about where he keeps his stuff and he probably wants it all packed up in a certain way. It's better just to wait. After a quick shower he pulls on a pair of boxers that are not his own and crawls into the bed that's not his either. It still smells like Sasuke, and even though he'll never admit it, it's the only way he can sleep with his best friend gone. Within minutes, Naruto has passed out in a dreamless sleep.

Sakura is sitting with Mikoto in a deep conversation about the effects of different medicinal and poisonous herbs when the front door to the Uchiha household is pushed open. They both startle and look over, having not been aware of a chakra signature. A man who looks vaguely familiar to Sakura stands in the doorway grinning at the pair, and Mikoto is on her feet and across the room in an instant. She throws her arms around him in a motherly hug, which he returns instantly.

"Shisui I'm so glad you're alright. I stopped getting your letters months ago." Mikoto's voice is shaky and Sakura wonders if she's crying.

She doesn't let go of him for a long time, and Sakura notices the way he rests his chin on top of her head and closes his eyes. She hasn't seen Sasuke's cousin in years. He used to come with Itachi sometimes to the park to supervise her, Sasuke and Naruto. She doesn't know much about him, besides that he was also in ANBU, like Itachi.

"I'm sorry. I was being watched too closely by my target to risk blowing my cover. But I've been given a month's leave since the mission took so long, so I'll be around for a while. How are you? Is Sasuke around?" He looks up and seems to notice Sakura. "I would remember that hair anywhere. Sakura, right?" He grins at her when she nods. "I haven't seen you since you were a little kid. Now you look all grown up." He winks at her and Mikoto swats him on the shoulder, glaring at her nephew.

"She just turned 14, Shisui. Hands off." And Shisui grimaces, throwing his hands up in defense. "Relax, Mikoto. She's too innocent for my tastes, anyways."

Sakura's face is the color of her hair as she glares at Shisui. Now she remembers how he used to flirt shamelessly with the young mothers at the park with their children. "And I don't like guys with a big head, so it looks like I'll be leaving." And she starts to get to her feet.

"No, no don't leave! I'm sorry. That was inappropriate. I promise to behave." And in a silly flourish, Shisui puts one hand on his chest and raises his other hand, as if he's taking an oath. "Now don't let me interrupt. What were you two discussing before I got here?"

Mikoto is still frowning at her nephew, but she motions for him to sit at the table with Sakura while she goes to get another cup and plate. He's already eating one of the pastries in the middle of the table by the time she gets back, and she brushes the crumbs onto the plate before setting it beneath him and settling in her seat. She pours his tea and adds a dash of milk and honey, obviously familiar enough with the young man to know his preferences. He thanks her before taking a sip and letting out a refreshed sigh. "It's good to be home." He says.

Sakura is staring at him and has now noticed the ANBU mask tied to his hip holster. "Aren't you supposed to hide that so no one can identify you when you have it on?"

Shisui follows the direction of her eyes down to his mask and shrugs. "Yeah, but I wasn't expecting anyone to be here except family." He holds a finger up to his lips in a shushing motion. "You can keep a secret, right pinkie?"

Sakura is ruffled by the nickname and her eyes narrow further. She already can't wait for her afternoon training session to get all of this anger out. It's been a while since she interacted with anyone this irritating.

Mikoto clears her throat and the pair glance at her. "Sakura-hime is Tsunade-sama's apprentice now, Shisui." She takes a sip of her tea while giving him a pointed look.

He scratches the back of his head and winces. "Wow, I'm really not used to being back in society, yet. How many more times will I embarrass myself in front of you, Sakura?" He unties the ANBU mask and stuffs it in the pack on his back. "Tell Lady Tsunade that I'll be more careful from now on." He adds.

"Speaking of my shishou, I should be going. I need to stop by her office for a few scrolls before we train. I'll be back later this week to return these. Thank you for the tea, Mikoto-san." Sakura dips her head respectfully before carefully placing the scrolls on the table in her bag. Shisui doesn't fail to notice that they are Uchiha crolls, but he says nothing after exchanging a look with Mikoto. He has enough sense to hold his tongue until Saukra is gone. He's already insulted her enough for one day.

"Alright, dear. Let me know if you hear anything more from Sasuke. I'm glad to hear his training is going well." Miktoo walks Sakura to the door and gives her a hug before Sakura dashes away on the rooftops.

As soon as the door closes, Mikoto spins on her heel and marches back to Shisui, swatting him on the head. "I forgot how ill-behaved you can be sometimes, nephew. Shame on you for giving Sakura such a hard time. She is working very hard to help Sasuke and keep him safe."

Shisui rubs his head but dips it low in apology. "I'm sorry, I spoke without thinking. I guess I was just caught off guard to find her here." He meets Mikoto's eyes. "And to see her leave with classified clan scrolls."

Mikoto doesn't look ashamed at all. "She is a part of this family, as far as I am concerned. And it's not like Sasuke will share any of it with her. She wants to know as much as she can about him and Itachi so she can help." At the mention of his name, Shisui's face hardens. Mikoto continues anyways. "I can't save them, but she can. Sakura has a pure heart and a kind soul. I can tell she loves Sasuke like he's her brother, and that's good enough for me."

Shisui ponders his aunt's words and feels guilt seep in. He's been taking very long and difficult missions ever since the coup, and even when her heard that Itachi left, he didn't come back to help his family. Or rather, he couldn't. He was too hurt by the betrayal and the look of suspicion in his fellow comrade's eyes. They expected him to run next, and he felt like he needed to prove them wrong by taking all of the hardest missions with the worst pay. He even had Lady Tsunade just start relaying his next assignment by summons so that he wouldn't have to return to the village in between missions. He made sure to write to Mikoto weekly and attempted to stay in contact with Sasuke too, but the young Uchiha never responded. He owes Sakura an immense debt for taking care of his family while he was gone. It's obvious to him now that from Mikoto's words, the girl has also been a tremendous help to the matriarch as well. There's no way she would reveal clan secrets otherwise.

"I'll find her later and apologize again." Shisui promises. "Do you know where I can find her?"

Mikoto taps her chin as she thinks. "I know she trains with Tsunade-sama all afternoon, and I believe she remains at the training grounds afterwards to read. I'm not sure which one, though." She sniffs daintily and makes a face before standing up to clear the dishes. "But I will not leave this house until you bathe. You reek, Shisui-kun."

Sasuke feels nervous as he approaches the gates of Konoha, although outwardly no one would ever guess. He long ago mastered his mask of indifference. There's only two days left until the chunin finals, and Kakashi was summoned back to the village for another mission. He couldn't say what, but Sasuke suspects it probably has something to do with Orochimaru. That's also probably why Kakashi took him away from the village, not that Sasuke is complaining. The intense training from the last month he just underwent would not have been possible within the confines of Konoha. Having to stay on constant alert, learning how to survive on his own, and focusing on nothing but training was physically gruelling, but also mentally stabilizing. However, the closer he gets to the village, the more anxious he grows. Sasuke made several resolutions to himself while he was in the forest, all of which seemed much easier when they were still only thoughts. But he'll have to act on them soon, as he and Kakashi are now at the gates.

"I have to go report to the Hokage immediately. You're free to do as you please. We'll meet tomorrow as a team in our usual spot, so make sure you let Sakura and Naruto know." And with that he shushins off into the village.

Sasuke continues to walk calmly through the bustling streets, forcing his posture to remain relaxed despite his aversion to the crowds made only worse in the last few weeks. He decides to see his mother first, knowing exactly where to find her. He has decided he's done avoiding her, and that he needs to apologize to her. What Sakura said about his mother loving him unconditionally has been bouncing around his thoughts ever since then, and he knows his teammate is right. He loves her too and has now realized that ignoring her won't erase the shame and anger he feels. She's probably the only other person in his life that understands it.

He's snapped out of his thoughts when he reaches the door to his childhood home. He can't sense the ANBU guard stationed nearby, but he knows they're there. He wonders how much longer she will be under house arrest. She didn't do anything, anyways. He pushes down the anger that starts to boil up and slides open the door. He won't misdirect his frustrations onto her any longer.

With a clear head he walks into the kitchen where he finds her kneading dough. She looks up and almost drops it on the floor. "Sasuke." She breathes, her hands falling to her apron where she twists her hands in the fabric, whether out of anxiety or to clean them off he does not know. They're still covered in flour when he gets close enough for her to reach out and wrap her arms around her son. For the first time in years, he returns her embrace. He can feel the wetness of her tears soak into his shirt. "I'm back." He says quietly. He holds his mother for a long while, neither of them saying anything.

Shisui's tanto barely misses Sakura's face as she does a backbend to dodge the strike. Sakura's fighting style takes advantage of her flexibility and small build, and it's rare that anyone's attack lands. It doesn't hurt that she's been practicing with Lady Tsunade for the past month, and getting hit even once means you've lost. Sakura doesn't want to get her hopes too high, but she doubts if any of the genin she'll be facing in the final round will be anywhere near as strong as her shishou or as fast as Shisui, who has been training with her as well for the past two weeks. After their obnoxious reintroduction, he came to apologize later that day, and ended up helping her with her genjutsu. After that it became an unspoken plan to meet every evening to work on different jutsu. She doesn't know if he's just bored or if Mikoto put him up to it, but nevertheless she appreciates the help. He's been very useful for explaining new techniques, and has even showed her how to shushin, although she isn't used to it enough yet to use it in a fight, for fear of miscalculating the movement and accidentally impaling herself on a weapon or getting caught in a jutsu. But she can move around the village a lot more quickly now, which is surprisingly useful.

Besides learning these new techniques, Sakura has very recently been successful in her trial runs with the Byakugou. While Tsunade stores her chakra slowly over a long period of time, Sakura used the first Hokage's notes to figure out a way to alter the seal slightly so she can store large amounts all at once after she discovered it was surprisingly easy for her to use Tsunade-sama's version. Her shishou's notes said if too much was stored at once the user ran the risk of rupturing the seal, which would release a shockwave of chakra into the body and cause irreparable damage, but Sakura's never had even the slightest issue controlling her chakra before. Despite the risks, she attempted her version of the seal anyways and was able to store away all of her chakra the day before into a fixed point on her forehead.

Today she's wearing a sweatband to cover the mark, but now that her reserves are low, she thinks it's a good time to test the release mechanism of the mark. She jumps back to put distance between herself and Shisui and quick forms the hand sign. The flood of chakra is jarring at first, but she laughs in exhilaration when it settles and her reserves are brimming full once again. She looks down at her arms and legs and they are wrapped in the elongated seal, just as Tsuande's were when she demonstrated the effects of her own Byakugou.

"What is that?!" Shisui is instantly in front of her, but instead of continuing the spar he is analyzing the markings with his Sharingan, his eyes flitting about rapidly. He follows the marks up to her forehead and without hesitating pulls off her sweat band to reveal the small diamond Sakura knows is there.

"Is… Is that the Byakugou?" He stares at her as if she has grown a second head. "Sakura that's an S-class jutsu. How… How?" He runs a hand through his hair and goes back to looking at the intricacies of the seal.

"Well, it's not exactly the same as Lady Tsunade's. That would have taken me years. I make a few tweaks to the storage mechanism of the seal so now I can store large amounts of chakra all at once and release it whenever I want without the seal breaking." She blushes lightly as Shisui looks at her with amazement. He's too stunned to speak, which is a first.

"And they call Uchihas the masters of copying jutsu." He says after a minute. "Sakura, this is incredible. How did you think of this?"

She shrugs, glancing away. "It just came to me after I read a bunch of different notes. I guess the way the First Hokage described storing and using natural chakra for his sage mode it just kind of… clicked." She explains.

"The First Hokage's notes? What-"

"What are you doing here, Shisui?" The pair look up at the familiar voice to see Sasuke strolling into the training grounds. Sakura runs over to him to draw him into a too-tight hug, which he returns absentmindedly with one arm, while he looks over her head at his cousin.

"It's good to see you too, little cousin! I heard you were off training with Kakashi. I hope you haven't picked up any of his dirty habits while you were gone." He quirks an eyebrow and glances at Sakura, who is still clinging to Sasuke.

The younger Uchiha rolls his eyes. "I've developed quite the aversion, actually." He retorts, knowing Shisui is referring to Kakashi's habits of reading porn, especially when there are other people around.

Sakura snorts and pulls away from Sasuke slightly, still leaning against him when she turns to glower at Shisui. "Honestly, you're even more perverted than our sensei." Sakura accuses.

Shisui pretends to be offended. "How rude!" He replies, but he can't help the grin that breaks his facade. He looks back at Sasuke. "Are you prepared for friday? I heard you're up against Gaara of the sand village. He has quite the reputation in Suna. Don't know why he's even bothering with the chunin exams, honestly. He's apparently a monster in battle." He's eyeing his younger cousin as if he's sizing him up. "Although, it looks like you've gotten stronger too. Care to join our spar? Sakura was just showing me her newest S-Class technique. I thought you were supposed to be the prodigy of your year." The taunt is obvious to Sakura, but she feels Sasuke tense next to her, taking the bait. She rolls her eyes. It's really too easy to goad Sasuke sometimes.

"Well, I actually need to go show Tsunade this before she leaves her office. She'll have a fit if I use this during the exam and she doesn't know about it first. See you two later!" And with that she shushins off.

Sasuke swears when she leaves so abruptly, not having the chance to pass along the message that they're supposed to meet up as a team tomorrow. He'll just have to stop by her house later. He'll probably want to sleep somewhere besides the orphanage later anyways, after he talks to Naruto. The mere thought of that conversation has him clenching his fists in anxiety, and he turns his attention back to Shisui to distract himself. He feels his earlier anger return.

"I thought you had left the village too." Sasuke sneers, slowly taking off his pack and cloak. He draws his sword and takes up a fighting stance. "What do you think you're doing, moving in with my mother and befriending my teammate? Is this some sort of sick joke to you?" He seethes.

Shisui looks taken aback. "I didn't leave the village. I was just-"

"You were just hiding." Sasuke interrupts. "Like a coward. You left our family to deal with the fallout of the rebellion all alone, and didn't even come back when Itachi left." And without any preamble he attacks. Shisui barely manages to parry the strike of Sasuke's sword, and he's unprepared when lightning flares through the specially crafted blade. He drops his tanto when the flesh on his palm is fried and hisses in pain as he retreats.

"You're right." Shisui says, falling into a defensive stance as Sasuke rushes at him once again with impressive speed. His fighting style is so similar to Itachi's that Shisui's heart aches. "I am a coward. I was hiding." He barely ducks a particularly savage slash of the blade. "But I'm back now. And I'm not going anywhere." Sasuke catches him in the gut with a kick and lifts him up by the wide collar of his shirt. Shisui doesn't struggle as he stares into Sasuke's spinning Sharingan, all three tomoe activated. It really has been a long time since he saw his little cousin. "I'm sorry, Sasuke. I'm sorry I wasn't there to stop Itachi." He lets his head fall. "I should have been there. I could have…. I don't know what I could have done. But I could have done something."

Neither moves for a while, but Sasuke slowly releases his death grip on Shisui's shirt. They stand there panting in silence until Sasuke sheaths his sword. "Well what are you going to do now?" He demands.

"I'm going to find him." Shisui says immediately. "I'll drag that idiot back here by his ponytail if I have to, and beat some sense into him. I don't know what he's thinking. This is unlike him."

Sasuke nods almost immediately. "Mother said the same thing. And I agree. Apparently mother has had Sakura looking for clues at the Hokage Tower." He lowers his voice. "She said something about a group called Akatsuki. Do you know anything about them?"

Shisui's brow furrows. "Yes, but not much. They're a group of ruge nin who take a lot of contracts the villages turn down. I haven't run into them, but I heard talk of them in a lot of towns, especially in countries without a ninja village."

Sasuke frowns and adds that to his list of things to tell Sakura. He doesn't see any significance to Shisui's words, but Sakura might. She's always been the best at piecing together information on missions. Even better than Kakashi, and he has years of experience.

"I'll see you tomorrow. I have something to do." Sasuke says abruptly, turning to leave. "Don't do anything yet. Sakura will be mad if you act before she knows what's going on."

Shisui laughs. "She really has you whipped. Is it her brain or her looks that got your attention?"

Sasuke rolls his eyes. "I'm not interested in women, actually." And with a smirk at the dumbstruck look on his cousin's face, he disappears in a flurry of leaves.

Naruto is just about to drift off to sleep when he hears the doorknob to his room turning. He sits bolt upright when he senses the chakra signature and has launched himself across the room and pulled Sasuke into a tight hug before the other can even flick on the light in the room.

"Put me down dobe." Sasuke manages to huff out, the air being squeezed from his lungs by Naruto's tight embrace.

The blonde aquiesses and slowly releases his best friend, stepping back to let him enter the room. Sasuke flicks on the light and only briefly glances at him before moving past him to place his pack down at the foot of the bed. He notices the sheets thrown down and turns to Naruto. "Were you sleeping in my bed?" Naruto grins sheepishly and rubs the back of his head in response. "Why?"  
Naruto glances around nervously, trying to think of a good lie. "It's more comfortable?"  
"We have the same mattress, dobe."

"Fine! I couldn't fall asleep in mine, so I slept in yours instead."

"That doesn't make any sense."

"Shut up." Naruto collapses back into the bed, making sure to leave enough room for Sasuke. "Geez, you've only been back for less than a minute and you're already driving me crazy."

He receives only a grunt of agreement in reply and he watches as the Uchiha starts to unpack his things. Naruto prattles on about his training with Jiraiya over the past month, and follows Sasuke to the bathroom to sit outside of the door as he showers so that he can ask him questions about his time with Kakashi.

When Sasuke exits the bathroom he's fully clothed and walking stiffly. He goes to his bed and sits down, only to restlessly sand up when Naruto joins him. He paces around the room and slowly Naruto catches on that something is bothering him and stops talking. "Is something wrong?" He asks.

Sasuke stops on the spot and whirls around on his heel. He stares at Naruto lounging on _his_ bed, wearing _his_ underwear, and asking him about _his_ feelings, and can't decide if he'd rather punch or kiss the blond.

"I'm gay." He finally blurts out. He says nothing else, but Naruto doesn't miss the panic that flits across his face. Too late, the blond realizes his mouth is hanging open and that he's probably giving Sasuke a really strange look. Before he can stop him, the Uchiha flits away with a shushin.

Naruto lies on the bed staring at the ceiling trying to process what Sasuke just told him. He berates himself for not saying anything. Why did he act so surprised, anyways? Is it really that surprising? While Sasuke doesn't necessarily fit many stereotypes, he's certainly never expressed any interest in girls. And it's not as if Naruto's as straight as an arrow either, so the concept isn't what floored him either. He supposes it's the way he said it. So bluntly. And after so long. Why didn't he tell him before? And why right now? And why did he run away? Naruto looks down at himself and groans, smacking a hand to his forehead. _I'm lying nearly naked in his bed. I definitely didn't make that easy._

Knowing exactly where Sasuke would flee, Naruto quickly gets dressed and pulls on his sandals. He's at Sakura's house in no time, and he leaps up to her window. He doesn't know if Sakura's parents are home or not, but he doesn't want to risk having to explain to them what he's doing here after dark. They definitely don't know Sasuke's here. He peers through her bedroom window, and sure enough he spots a head of unruly black hair sitting on her floor. He pulls open the window and vaults through. Sasuke looks ready to bludgeon him with the cup of tea in his hands when he glares over his shoulder at him. "Go away."

"Not a chance, teme. Not until you come back home with me." He sits on the floor in front of him, legs and arms crossed stubbornly.

It's been a long time since Naruto faced this calibre of glare from Sasuke. I hasn't been this bad since Itachi left, honestly. He feels a spike of guilt at having caused his best friend this much pain. "I'm sorry for freezing up and not saying anything. You just caught me off guard." He laughs nervously and uncrosses his arms. "I'm used to you not talking much, but that was extreme, even for you."

Sasuke's glare doesn't waver and he still says nothing. Naruto swallows the lump in his throat, but doesn't break eye contact. He hears Sakura walking up the stairs and uses their last moment of being alone to whisper, "this is going to hurt".

The door slams open and Sakura enters the room, fury clearly evident on her face. She smacks Naruto hard upside the head and grabs him by the collar, yanking him to his feet. "You moron! What the hell is wrong with you? How can you be so dense all of the time?"

She shakes him for emphasis before shifting her hold so she has him by the ear. She drags him out of her bedroom and to the stairs, obviously headed for the front door. So her parents must not be home. "Sakura-chan, wait! I need to-ow, that hurts! Let go!" he tries to loosen her fingers but her grip his like steel. He continues to whine until they get to the door. She throws him out on the front steps, but just before she can slam the door in his face, he grabs her wrist. "Sakura-chan." His voice is quiet and serious. He can feel the tears threatening to spill from his eyes. "I need to talk to him. Please."

Sakura lets out a long suffering sigh and massages her temples. "Why are you so good at puppy dog eyes? Fine!" She finally says, stepping aside to let him in. "But you have two minutes and then you're out! Honestly, I can't believe you. What could you have possibly said that upset him so much?" She gives him a weird look. "You're not one of those people who's homophobic but still likes men, are you? Because if-"

"What? No! I didn't say anything!" He interrupts her indignantly before his shoulders slump. "I just… gaped at him and… Imayhavebeenwearinghisunderwearwhilelyinginhisbed." He mumbles, his face flushing. Sakura stares at him for a few seconds before her shoulders tart shaking. She doubles over with laughter and Naruto stalks past her. "Yeah, yeah laugh all you want. By the way, how's Ino?" He calls over his shoulder, yelping when a scroll hits him in the back of the head. He chuckles to himself as he jogs up the stairs, but is serious again by the time he reaches her bedroom door. Sasuke is standing now, looking out the window.

"I escaped." Naruto jokes lamely, stepping into the room and closing the door so Sakura can't eavesdrop too easily. She probably will anyways.

"That's too bad. I hoped she'd kick your ass out of the gates of the village." Sasuke replies, not turning around.

"Is that what you want? A fight?" Naruto asks, stepping forward. He places he hand on Sasuke's shoulder only to frown when he shrugs off the touch.

"No. I want you to go away." Is Sasuke's growled response.

"Well too bad." And before Sasuke can react, Naruto slings the Uchiha over his shoulder and uses the hand sign to activate his new jutsu. They materialize instantly in training ground 3 with his palm pressed against the seal he has carved into one of the trees. When he wasn't being pushed off cliffs and forced to summon toads, Naruto spent the last month reading the notes from his father on his Hiraishin and Rasengan jutsus. With his Uzumaki blood, Naruto is naturally gifted at fuinjutsu. With Jiraiya's guidance, he was able to quickly learn the terminology and basics, and now he can use the technique, although sparingly and not quickly enough to utilize it in a battle. But for scenarios like this, it's pretty useful. The rasengan was a lot more difficult for him to learn because of his terrible chakra control, but after many weeks and a lot of shadow clones, he figured it out.

Sasuke delivers a kick to his gut, and Naruto releases him as he doubles over in pain. Sasuke is staring at him incredulously, looking from the seal on the tree to Naruto. "How the hell did you do that?"

Naruto grins and traces the seal with a finger. "It's my dad's jutsu. Ero-sannin had the scrolls of notes and showed them to me. It's called Hiraishin."

"Well it's annoying." And with that, Sasuke charges Naruto. The Uchiha is faster, but Naruto has better endurance. He takes quite a few hits over the next half hour and bides his time, letting Sasuke get all of his anger and frustration out. Even though Sasuke said otherwise, the blond knows that a good spar will always make his friend feel better. He's not good at talking, but his hits are more than expressive. At the first sign of fatigue, Naruto starts to fight back. He lands his first hit and sends the Uchiha sprawling. He barely rolls out of the way before Naruto slams a rasengan down into the ground, right where his chest was a moment ago. Having now escalated the fight, their punches aren't pulled at all. Sasuke's lip is busted, and Naruto has such a bad black eye it has swelled shut. Sasuke's now fighting with just one arm because the other is broken from blocking a particularly nasty hit from Naruto, and the latter is slowed down significantly from the blow he took to the knee from the raven. They both have several cracked ribs. It's the middle of the night before they're finally done, lying in the grass next to each other staring up at the bright full moon.

"Why did you make that stupid face?" Sasuke surprises Naruto by breaking the silence.

Naruto winces, but not from physical pain. "I don't know. I really don't. I'm just an idiot, I guess. You just caught me off guard." Naruto chuckles. "You just yelled it at me while I was rambling about the different toads I've summoned."

Sasuke snorts, and turns his head to look at Naruto. "You wouldn't shut up."

"Hey! I asked if anything was wrong!"

"And nothing was wrong."

"That's bullshit, teme. Why didn't you just tell me? Hell, I wouldn't be sleeping in your underwear or climbing in your bed if I knew it bothered you!"

Sasuke doesn't speak for a long time, observing Naruto's face for a long moment. "That's because it doesn't bother me." He looks back at the sky and Naruto realizes he's embarrassed. "Does that bother you?"

"Hell no!" Is the blond's immediate reply. "I just thought-"

"Since when do you think?" Sasuke says with a smirk.

"Shut up."

They lie in silence for another long while, but soon their sweat dries on their skin and the chill of the night sets in. Naruto's body aches, and he can only imagine how Sasuke feels. He doesn't have a monster bijuu sealed inside of him to heal his injuries. "Come on, lets go see Sakura-chan. Maybe she'll take pity and heal us."

Sasuke groans at the prospect of moving. Naruto gets to his feet slowly and offers a hand. He slowly pulls his friend to his feet and Sasuke takes one of Naruto's arms around his shoulders, bearing the weight on the blond's injured side.

"I can use the Hiraishin to get us there." Naruto says just before he uses the jutsu. Sasuke looks slightly ill when they arrive and he looks around in bewilderment at the inside of Sakura's room. "She's going to kill you when she finds out." He mutters when he notices the seal painted behind her dresser.

She does give him an earful, but in the end Sakura lets him go with only a stern reprimand for invading her privacy. She heals Sasuke first, and the Uchiha goes to sit in her window seat while she works on Naruto. The pinkette gives him a questioning look, which the blond returns with a smile and nod. Sakura grins back at him and winks. Naruto immediately realizes she misinterpreted what he meant and frantically waves his arms and shakes his head. This draws Sasuke's attention and he frowns at them.

"Something you want to say, dobe?" He asks, obviously aware they were just communicating behind his back. He rolls his eyes when Naruto grins sheepishly and waves Sasuke off. "Oh, nothing. Sakura just wanted to know if you beat me, and I was letting her know I kicked your ass."

Sasuke snorts and doesn't even bother to respond, instead looking out the window again. Naruto gives Sakura a dirty look while she shakes with silent laughter. They thank their teammate and Sasuke lets her know they're supposed to meet in the morning at the bridge before Naruto grabs his shoulder and Haraishins them home. The blond gets to the shower first and washes off the blood, sweat and dirt from before.

After he's used up a good portion of the hot water, he gets out and dries off before slinging his towel around his hips. He walks out into their room and is suddenly very conscious of the fact that Sasuke is standing only a few feet away with his shirt off. He swallows and fights to keep his face indifferent as he walks around the other teen, reaching into his underwear drawer. "Sorry, I need to do my laundry." Naruto says sheepishly. Trying to act normal, he drops his towel as he always would and quickly yanks on the dark blue boxer briefs. He turns around only to find that Sasuke is already in the bathroom, paying no attention to him.

Naruto flops down on the Uchiha's bed and covers his face with his hands, muffling a groan after the shower has been turned on and he knows Sasuke won't hear him. _Why am I acting so weird right now? Neither of us is any different than we were before_. He grabs his towel and rubs it roughly through his hair to dry the unruly mop. It's getting a little longer than usual, so the spikes don't sall tick straight out like they used to.

Naruto lies back down on the bed and stares at the door of the bathroom while he waits patiently for Sasuke to be done with his shower. When he hears the water shut off he rolls onto his back. Sasuke walks out shortly after fully dressed in his pajamas, and with only a quick glance at Naruto's face he climbs onto the bed with him. Naruto is acutely aware of how they're completely pressed against one another as they lie there, the blond for once at a loss for words. Sasuke didn't crawl under the covers like he normally does, so the thin cotton of his pajamas are pressed against Naruto's bare leg. The blond gulps and twiddles with his thumbs on his abdomen to distract himself.

"Your seal looks different." Sasuke says after a while, and Naruto feels goosebumps break out on his arms when the Uchiha's finger trace the spiral of ink on his stomach. The muscles in his torso clench and Naruto clamps his mouth shut. When the raven withdraws his hand, the blond is able to regain his composure somewhat.

"Yeah. Jiraiya reworked the design a little bit. My dad didn't really have that much time when he sealed the Nine Tails in me." After an awkward pause, words begin to come to him again. "It turns out I don't even have all of the chakra. Ero-sannin says the rest is sealed away on Mount Myoboku. Did you know there are places where summons live?" He continues to ramble on, slowly forgetting his nerves and sinking into the familiar heat of Sasuke's body. In no time his eyelids are drooping, and before he notices he has drifted off to sleep.


End file.
